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