FootballSaturday, September 9, 2017
6

Breakdown: Michigan vs. Cincy

By KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

This
one
has
all
the

ingredients to be a laugher.

Cincinnati will travel to Ann

Arbor this Saturday coming off
a narrow 26-14 win over Austin
Peay. To put that in perspective,
the Governors have not won a
game in FCS competition since
Oct. 14, 2014.

No. 8 Michigan, on the other

hand, is heading into its home
opener with a lot to be happy
about. After an offseason in
which the Wolverines’ youth
was questioned, Michigan made
it clear that it wasn’t an issue
in its season-opening 33-17 win
over Florida.

There were plenty of mistakes

to
correct,
but
Michigan

managed
to
win
despite

throwing two pick-sixes and
having a punt blocked. It’d be
surprising if anything close to
similar
circumstances
carry

over against the Bearcats. This
one could be over early.

Here’s how the Wolverines

match up against Cincinnati on
Saturday.

Michigan pass offense vs.

Cincinnati pass defense

Redshirt junior quarterback

Wilton Speight didn’t open up
the year in a fashion he would
have hoped. Against Florida,
Speight threw two interceptions
returned for touchdowns on
consecutive series, giving the
Gators 14 of their 17 total points.

On
the
bright
side,
he

recovered in the second half,
opening the frame by completing
five of his seven passes for 52
yards before junior running
back Karan Higdon capped it off
with a touchdown.

To be clear, there is no

controversy to be had. Speight
is still Michigan’s quarterback
— a fact that Jim Harbaugh
has been quick to emphasize.
Cincinnati limited Austin Peay
to just 89 yards and only one
touchdown through the air, but
the Governors are a far cry from
the Wolverines.

Edge: Michigan

Michigan run offense vs

Cincinnati run defense

As expected, the Wolverines

turned — once again — to a
running back by committee in
their season opener against the
Gators. It worked, to say the
least.

Higdon
scored
the
lone

rushing
touchdown,
but

Michigan racked up 215 yards on
59 carries and showed an ability
to wear down a defense with the
run game. This time, they may
not have to wear the Bearcats’
defense down at all.

Cincinnati
allowed
224

rushing yards to Austin Peay
on
60
attempts
—
nearly

identical results to Michigan’s
performance against Florida.

Running backs coach Jay

Harbaugh
was
tight-lipped

when it came to questions of
whether Ty Isaac had earned a
start with his 114-yard, 11-carry
game, but it likely won’t even

matter.

Edge: Michigan

Cincinnati pass offense vs

Michigan pass defense

Do you remember Hayden

Moore’s debut against Memphis?
If you don’t, you should.

On Sept. 25, 2015, Moore

came in to replace Gunner
Kiel — who went down with an
injury against the Tigers. Then a
freshman, he didn’t disappoint,
finishing with 557 yards and
four touchdowns.

Since then, however, Moore’s

career has largely been a tale
of inconsistencies. He has won
starting jobs, lost them to injury
and won them back again. But,
as almost anyone would, he
has struggled to capture the

lightning of 2015 in a bottle.

He had a solid 2017 debut,

finishing
with
151
yards

and
three
touchdowns,
but

Michigan’s secondary looked
better than expected against the
Gators. And if the Wolverines’
line stuffs the run game, things
will only get harder for Moore.

Edge: Michigan

Cincinnati run offense vs.

Michigan run defense

Unfortunately
for
the

Bearcats, their most talented
player is running back Mike
Boone. He rushed for 100 yards
on 19 carries against Austin
Peay, but Michigan is coming
off a game in which its ability
to stop the run was the most
impressive aspect of an all-

around impressive day.

The
Wolverines
held
the

Gators to 11 rushing yards, and
Michigan’s
linebackers
and

linemen combined for 25-plus
tackles — 8.5 of which were for
loss. Cincinnati will need to
get creative if it wants its best
player to touch the ball, so don’t
be surprised to see Boone in
some unconventional spots.

Either way, there’s not even

enough creativity at Google to
mitigate
Michigan’s
defense

with the way it looked at AT&T
Stadium.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Fifth-year senior running back Ty Isaac is coming off a 100-plus yard game, and the Bearcats’ defense looked vulnerable against the run in their season opener.

For in-game updates
Follow @Kevin_M_Santo, @tedjanes7,
@orion_sang and @betelhem_
ashame on Twitter during
Saturday’s game.