FootballSaturday, October 28, 2017
6

Breakdown: Advantage, ‘M’

When No. 2 Penn State 

thrashed 
Michigan 
last 

week, 
the 
Wolverines 
(2-2 

Big Ten, 5-2 overall) were hit 
with a hard dose of reality. 
They may not be the College 
Football 
Playoff 
contender 

that they wanted to be at the 
beginning of the season, but 
that shouldn’t stop them from 
beating one of the worst teams 
in the Big Ten. 

Rutgers (2-2, 3-4) comes off 

back-to-back wins, but what 
it might boast in confidence it 
simply lacks in talent.

Both the Scarlet Knights 

and the Wolverines have their 
weaknesses right now, but a 
quick breakdown reveals that 
Rutgers’ weaknesses may be 
too large to overcome.

Here’s the Daily’s breakdown 

of what you can expect this 
homecoming weekend:

Michigan run offense vs. 

Rutgers run defense

The 
Wolverines’ 
most 

reliable 
offensive 
position 

group, the tailbacks, continues 
to be the source of scoring 
regardless of who they play.

Against Penn State, junior 

running back Karan Higdon 
led 
the 
team 
in 
rushing 

attempts for the third straight 
week, followed by fifth-year 
senior Ty Isaac and sophomore 
Chris Evans. Higdon and Isaac 
produced 
the 
team’s 
only 

touchdowns.

While 
that 
trio 
rotated 

starts in the first half of 
the 
season, 
Higdon 
began 

to separate himself against 
Michigan State. In that game, 
the team wasn’t passing well, 
but Higdon consistently ran 
for medium gains, and he broke 
out in his next appearance 
against Indiana for 200 yards 
and three scores.

The fourth addition to the 

group, 
redshirt 
freshman 

Kareem Walker, always has 
fans wondering when he’ll 
receive 
more 
consistent 

playing time. He bulldozed 
his way to an eight-yard rush 
against Indiana — his only 
attempt of the game — but 
Walker’s role on the team is 
still supplementary.

Rutgers has given up an 

average of 159 rushing yards 
per game, which presents a 
favorable 
matchup 
for 
the 

Wolverines.

Edge: Michigan
Rutgers run offense vs. 

Michigan run defense

The Scarlet Knights, much 

like the Wolverines, also prefer 
the run game. Rutgers has run 
the ball on 60 percent of its 
plays this season, and running 
back Gus Edwards leads the 
team so far with five rushing 
touchdowns.

Two other running backs 

— Robert Martin and Raheem 
Blackshear 
— 
also 
have 

multiple rushing touchdowns, 
but each of Rutgers’ backs are 
in for one of their toughest 
tests yet against Michigan’s 
run defense.

The Wolverines allow just 

105 rushing yards per game on 
average. Despite giving up 224 
yards on the ground against 
the Nittany Lions, Michigan 
should have a much easier 
time this weekend. After all, 
Rutgers’ running backs don’t 
pose the same threat as Penn 
State’s Saquon Barkley.

Edge: Michigan
Michigan pass offense vs. 

Rutgers pass defense

Fifth-year 
senior 

quarterback 
John 
O’Korn 

threw for 166 yards against 
the Nittany Lions, a significant 
increase 
from 
his 
58-yard 

outing 
versus 
Indiana. 

Nonetheless, the Wolverines 
pass offense just hasn’t looked 
the same since it lost both its 
starting quarterback, redshirt 
junior Wilton Speight, and its 
previously 
leading 
receiver, 

freshman Tarik Black.

The Scarlet Knights’ pass 

defense, though, has given up 
224 yards per game. If there 
is any game to let O’Korn air it 
out, it would be this one.

Saturday will actually be 

O’Korn’s third time playing 
Rutgers. Before transferring 
from Houston, O’Korn faced 
the Scarlet Knights back in 
2013. He led the Cougars to a 
49-14 win in one of the best 
games of his career, throwing 
for 364 yards, five touchdowns

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

T E A M S T A T S

MICH
OPP

Points/Game
25.1
18.6

First Downs/Game
18
14

Rush Yards/Game
173.3
105.6

 Yards/Rush
4.1
3.2

 Rushing TDs
11
8

Passing Yards/Game
187.7
158.6

 Completion %
55.2
46.9

 Yards/Pass
6.8
5.7

 Passing TDs
4
6

 Interceptions
6
6

Offensive Plays/Game
69.9
60.9

Total Offense
361
264.1

3rd-down Conversions
32.4%
23.2%

4th-down Conversions
77.8%
28.6%

Sacks/Game
3.1
3.3

Kick return average
19.9
14

Punt return average
8.1
8.3

Punting average
35.9
37.5

Field Goals-Attempts
14-16
6-10

Fumbles/Lost
10/7
12/4

Penalty Yards/Game
72.1
47.4

Time of Poss
33:10
26:50

I N D I V I D U A L S

PASSING

Player
Cmp
Att
Yds
TD
INT

O’Korn
61
110
729
1
4

Speight

Peters

44

1

81

1

581

4

3

0

2

0

TOTALS
106
192
1314
4
6

RUSHING

Player
Att
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

Higdon
85
446
5.2
59
6

Isaac
74
439
5.9
53
2

Evans
71
269
3.8
49
2

Peoples-Jones
2
50
25.0
44
0

McDoom
5
30
6.0
12
0

Walker
4
15
3.8
8
0

RECEIVING

Player
No.
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

Perry
21
270
12.9
33
1

McKeon
18
192
10.7
36
0

Black
11
149
13.6
46
1

Peoples-Jones
10
137
13.7
37
0

Gentry
8
134
16.8
36
1

Crawford
10
125
12.5
43
1

Eubanks
2
61
30.5
48
0

DEFENSE

Player
Solo Ast
Tot
TFL
SK
PBU

Bush
25
31
56
5.5
4.5
6

McCray
22
23
45
7.0
3.0
1

Winovich
20
24
44
9.0
5.5
-

Kinnel
23
14
37
3.5
1.0
3

Gary
14
21
35
5.5
2.0
-

Hurst
16
16
32
8.0
1.5
-

Hudson
16
14
30
4.5
2.5
4

Metellus
13
11
24
-
-
2

Furbush
8
12
20
0.5
-
1

Hill
12
5
17
3.5
-
7

Long
7
6
13
1.5
0.5
2

Watson
4
4
8
1.5
-
3

Solomon
2
5
7
0.5
-
-

Thomas
5
1
6
0.5
-
-

Paye
-
4
4
1.0
0.5
-

Wroblewski
2
2
4
-
-
-

Schoenle
3
1
4
-
-
-

Mone
-
4
4
0.5
-
-

Dwumfour
-
3
3
0.5
-
-

Uche
3
-
3
1
1
-

Kemp
1
1
2
-
-
-

Woods
1
1
2
-
-
-

Gil
1
1
2
-
-
-

A P T O P 1 0 
1. Alabama
2. Penn State
3. Georgia
4. TCU
5. Wisconsin
6. Ohiot State
7. Clemson
8. Miami
9. Notre Dame
10. Oklahoma

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Junior running back Karan Higdon will have a favorable matchup against a Scarlet Knights squad that gives up an average of 159 rushing yards per game.

See BREAKDOWN, Page 7

TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

