The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SportsMonday November 6, 2017 — 3B The good, the bad and the ugly: Minnesota The Michigan football team, quite literally, ran away with this one. Karan Higdon and Chris Evans combined for 391 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went for 60-plus yards. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Wolverines led 33-7, and a Minnesota field goal in the waning moments provided the final score line. By the time the clock finally expired on a game that had been determined early, Michigan maintained its possession of the Little Brown Jug. A lot went right to get there, but some still went wrong. The Daily breaks down the good, the bad and the ugly from Saturday night’s rain-delayed thrashing of Minnesota: The good On 3rd-and-15 from its own 10-yard line, Minnesota went to a play that has plagued the Wolverines all year. Running back Rodney Smith took the ball off the direct snap with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. He was promptly dropped by Khaleke Hudson for a loss of three yards. Sophomore linebacker Devin Bush Jr. proceeded to go for a piggyback ride on Hudson’s shoulders, tapping his teammate’s helmet all the way. It was one of plenty celebrations for Hudson. And he had plenty reason to celebrate. Michigan’s sophomore VIPER wreaked havoc against Minnesota, finishing with 13 tackles — six and a half for loss — two sacks and a forced fumble. The performance nearly became one for the record books. Instead, Larry Foote’s 2001 showing against Iowa — which included seven tackles- for-loss — is still standing as the most by a Michigan player in a single game. And with Saturday night’s outing, Hudson now leads the Big Ten in tackles-for-loss with 12.5. A new player seems to headline the Wolverines’ defense every week. This time, it was Hudson’s turn. The bad It’s been a rough stretch for Quinn Nordin. Michigan’s redshirt freshman kicker entered Saturday night having missed an extra point against Penn State and a 37-yard field goal against Rutgers in consecutive weeks. Nordin again missed an extra point after junior running back Karan Higdon’s 77-yard touchdown run near the end of the first quarter, before pushing a 49-yard field goal wide right before the end of the first half. “We thought he was going too fast,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “That’s what we noticed last week and then in practice this week, we thought we had that corrected. I think we did correct it. “(On) the missed extra point he looked up too early, and he got his left hip in front of his right too much and pulled it left. I thought the long field goal, the 49-yarder, was a good hit, it just went a bit wide right. Just keep working on it.” It’s hard to criticize Nordin for the missed field goal, but what once seemed like all but a guaranteed source for points is now far less certain. Nordin has now made 14 of his 18 field goals on the year but has failed to convert on his two attempts in the last three games. The ugly With just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Brandon Peters lined up under center facing a 3rd-and-4 from Michigan’s 29-yard line. He took the snap and dropped back into the pocket, only to have Merrick Jackson fly — unchecked by freshman right guard Cesar Ruiz — into the backfield. Merrick had a free shot at Michigan’s redshirt freshman quarterback, and he took it. Peters absorbed a crushing hit, one that left him lying on the turf for roughly 20 seconds before walking off the field. For all the success Michigan’s offensive line had in sparking the run game — the Wolverines rushed for 371 yards and averaged 10 yards per carry — its pass protection left something to be desired, to say the least. Peters was sacked three times for a loss of 23 yards against the Golden Gophers, including another straight-on, bruising hit in the third quarter. If the matchup with Minnesota showed anything, it’s that Peters is now unquestionably the Wolverines’ starter. If Michigan wants it to stay that way, hits like Saturday night’s can only go on for so long. MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily Redshirt freshman kicker Quinn Nordin continued his struggles, missing an extra point and a field goal Saturday night. KEVIN SANTO Managing Sports Editor Five Things We Learned: Minnesota For the second straight week, the Michigan football team (4-2 Big Ten, 7-2 overall) claimed a comfortable win against an inferior opponent. The run game surged and the defense locked down the Golden Gophers (1-5, 4-5). Here are five things The Daily learned from the battle for the Little Brown Jug. 1. Peters may be the quarterback, but the running backs are the offense In Brandon Peters’ first start at quarterback, the redshirt freshman threw the ball just 13 times. He completed 61 percent of his passes and threw his second career touchdown to sophomore tight end Sean McKeon on the opening drive. After that set, Peters was quiet, mainly because Michigan’s running backs kept breaking free for long runs. Junior Karan Higdon and sophomore Chris Evans combined for 391 rushing yards, and each scored two touchdowns. Higdon’s performance marked his second 200-yard game and his third game with multiple touchdowns. Evans, on the other hand, had been quiet in recent weeks since his two-touchdown outing against Purdue. But with fifth-year senior running back Ty Isaac out due to injury this week, coach Jim Harbaugh decided to give Evans more carries. For Michigan, that move paid off. 2. Michigan’s defense has figured out the direct snap While the play haunted the Wolverines against Penn State and Rutgers, Minnesota found little success. On Minnesota’s only touchdown drive — its second drive of the game — quarterback Demry Croft shifted in formation and running back Rodney Smith received a direct snap. He rushed forward for a short gain of just two yards. His results didn’t get much better from there. To put that in perspective, the last two opponents to take direct snaps against Michigan — Penn State’s Saquon Barkley and Rutgers’ Janarion Smith — ran for 60-plus-yard touchdowns. The Golden Gophers occasionally snapped the ball directly to Smith, but he couldn’t break loose for big plays. Smith is the team’s leading rusher and averages 78 yards per game on the ground. Against Michigan, though, he ran for just 38 yards. Michigan handled every other type of snap just as well, shutting Minnesota out of the end zone after the second drive of the game and allowing just 36 yards in the second half. 3. Cesar Ruiz is a solid replacement at right guard With sophomore right guard Mike Onwenu out with an apparent foot injury, the true freshman Cesar Ruiz earned his first start. Ruiz helped the Wolverines’ offensive line open lanes for the running backs time and time again. There was a bit of cause for concern in pass protection — Peters was sacked three times — but as a whole, the offensive line also allowed just five tackles for loss. Harbaugh said after the game that he thought Ruiz played “really well,” and spoke about Ruiz in a similar way Saturday that he spoke about Peters a week before. The young player had been competing well in practice, and it was simply “time for him to play.” 4. McKeon is Peters’ favorite target After the win, McKeon joked that he was angry with his new quarterback. On a pass play where McKeon was wide open, Peters took a hard sack. “He’s a tough guy, I knew he was going to be fine. I was just mad cause I was open on a crossing route for the first down,” McKeon said with a laugh. The Peters-to-McKeon connection has proved to be one of the most effective for the Wolverines’ offense. For the second week in a row, McKeon led Michigan in receiving yards. He caught three catches for 30 yards and one touchdown against Minnesota, and last week against Rutgers he caught three for 31. While the traditional wide receivers have had less of an impact, the offense is still finding ways to score on the ground. If push comes to shove and Higdon’s and Evans’ contributions lessen, it appears Peters still has a top option in McKeon. 5. Prediction: Peters will probably get more throws against Maryland In evaluating his redshirt freshman quarterback, Harbaugh admitted that there weren’t very many opportunities for Peters to throw. He only threw the ball just 13 times. When Higdon and Evans run for 60-yard touchdowns on every drive, not only does Peters not need to throw, but he also doesn’t get to throw. The lack of passing activity made it difficult for Michigan’s new starter to get into a rhythm, and Harbaugh also said he will do more to keep Peters active on the sideline. While the Terrapins don’t present much of a challenge to Michigan’s run game, the future opponents — Wisconsin and Ohio State — likely will. It could be vital to get Peters more chances to throw next week before asking him to do so on a bigger stage. EMMA RICHTER/Daily Sophomore tight end Sean McKeon has totaled six catches and 61 yards through the last two weeks for Michgian. TED JANES Daily Sports Writer MEN’S SOCCER Hallahan leads attack Ten minutes into the second half of the Michigan men’s soccer team’s first ever home Big Ten Tournament game, star sophomore winger Jack Hallahan collected the ball on the edge of the 18-yard-box. The Wolverines were knotted at one with Northwestern. He took one look at goal before cutting onto his dangerous left foot and unleashing a ferocious curler within inches of both the post and crossbar, past the flailing Wildcat goalie. The goal gave Michigan a 2-1 lead that it would not relinquish, eventually turning it into a 4-1 final to book its place in the conference semifinals for the first time since 2012. Part of that success can be attributed to Hallahan’s elevated play. The game-winner was a piece of solo magic from Hallahan, but the rest of the Wolverines’ dominant performance came through a balanced attack that saw five players tally either a goal or an assist, including a second from Hallahan. Leading this attack was junior striker Francis Atuahene, who scored the opening goal before assisting both of Hallahan’s. This combination has become crucial down the stretch for Michigan, as it was Hallahan’s inch-perfect cross that found Atuahene for his historic goal against Maryland last week to give Michigan its regular season conference title. “They’re two talented young players. If we can get the ball to them in the right spots on the field,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley, “they can certainly make things happen on their own. But when they’re working collectively, they become a bigger danger to opponents.” “In training, coaches put us together a lot,” Hallahan said, “ … We’ve built a really good bond on and off the field.” For the Wolverines to continue their dream season, though, they will need continued contributions beyond these two stars. After all, their focus on working together has been what has put them in this position, and it is what they used to collect themselves and ensure a focused performance after a week of celebrating their first conference championship. “We wanted them to enjoy it for a few days because they earned it but we wanted to get back down to business,” Daley said. “The foundation of our team was … about sticking together, working hard for each other, and competing for the team and competing for Michigan.” This attitude shone through in Sunday’s match, as it was senior defender Billy Stevens — who had tallied just four assists in 69 previous career matches — assisted the opening goal. Junior defender Marcelo Borges followed up with his sixth career assist on Michigan’s third goal, which was scored by junior midfielder Robbie Mertz for his first conference goal since a Sept. 13 draw against Indiana. Daley went beyond his goal- scorers to praise freshman midfielder Umar Farouk Osman for the team’s second-half turnaround. “The game changed a little bit when Umar went in centrally,” Daley said. “Umar hasn’t got any goals this year but when he’s played centrally, he’s really made a lot of things happen and him stretching the field gives a lot of other guys opportunities. If three or four guys are cooking, you don’t know which one you’re gonna get.” But while the Wolverines may boast a total-effort mentality, their success will ultimately come back to Hallahan, who scored his second from a nearly impossible angle in the final minutes to cap off the evening. “When I cut in for the second goal, I saw the net open and I thought, ‘Why not try it?’” Hallahan said. This willingness to try things, which the British Hallahan credits to his seven years in West Bromwich Albion’s youth academy, has helped him to his breakout season, in which he has scored seven goals to go along with seven assists — both team bests. And with Hallahan leading a balanced attack, the Wolverines don’t look like settling for what they’ve already accomplished. MEN’S SOCCER ‘M’ tops Northwestern A five-hour delay resulted in a 6 p.m. kick off for the Michigan men’s soccer team, but an under the lights matchup at U-M Soccer stadium was the perfect environment for a squad that looked anything but sluggish. Michigan faced Northwestern on Sunday night in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals and earned a 4-1 win. Despite having played the day before, the Wildcats (1-8-0 Big Ten, 6-11-0 overall) came out with more energy than Michigan (7-1-1, 12-4- 2). Northwestern put considerable pressure on the Wolverines and forced errant passes from the Michigan defense. While Michigan reestablished themselves going forward and did manage to earn a few set pieces, the Wildcats registered the only shot on goal through the first 15 minutes. But in the 23rd minute, junior forward Francis Atuahene netted his sixth goal of the season. Atuahene capitalized on a long throw from senior right back Billy Stevens. Stevens’ throw managed to evade every player in the box until Atuahene pounced on it at the back post. His low, powerful shot gave the Northwestern goalkeeper no chance as the Wolverines took a 1-0 lead. Northwestern responded well after the goal and came very close to equalizing off a pre-planned set piece, sending the ball just wide of the Michigan goal post. Through 30 minutes, the shots were tied at five and each team registered two shots on goal. The Wildcats had set piece after set piece and dominated the run of play heading into halftime, but the Wolverines were able to hold on to their slim 1-0 lead. “We weren’t playing according to what we wanted to do,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley. “We were more aggressive in the second half and more competitive. It resulted in four goals because we had them a little more stretched.” Northwestern came out riding the momentum they gained toward the end of the first half and equalized five minutes into the second. A clearance from the Michigan defense off a free kick was kicked back in the 18-yard box by the Wildcats. Midfielder Tommy Katsyiannis fired a well-placed shot to the far post to beat freshman goalkeeper Henry Mashburn and tie the game at one. Northwestern’s confidence seemed to grow until, against the run of play, the Wolverines regained the lead. A good tackle from a Wildcats defender sent the ball to the feet of sophomore forward Jack Hallahan. Hallahan took a touch and curled a ball from the right side of the 18-yard box to the far post. Northwestern’s goalkeeper didnt have a chance, and Hallahan had a wonder goal to his name. And after retaking the lead, Michigan never looked back. Eighteen minutes into the half, a long ball from junior defender Marcello Borges was brought down excellently by junior midfielder Robbie Mertz, who deftly finished the move with a left-footed shot back across goal to extend the Michigan lead to 3-1. And with 11 minutes left, Hallahan tallied another. A well-weighted, cross-field pass from Atuahene sent Hallahan all the way to the goal line where the sophomore calmly dribbled into the box and slotted the ball into the back of the net. “I think after the first goal I was really starting to feel confident,” Hallahan said. “When I cut in for the second goal I saw the net open, and I thought, ‘Why not try it?’” And really, Hallahan’s why not approach Sunday night could summarize the Wolverines’ season. The team has already won the regular season title and that’s given them the confidence to go for more. And for once Michigan is controlling its own postseason destiny. “I think now that we’ve won the Big Ten we know we have the potential to win a lot more,” Hallahan said. “We’re going to really go for it and we’re going to see what we can do as a group.” AMIR ALI For the Daily THEO MACKIE For the Daily