The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Offensive offense 

Michigan couldn’t establish 

the run or pass — perhaps 

because South Carolina 

knew what to expect. 

 
» Page 2B

Bye-bye, birdie 

Backed by a couple 

unexpected offensive 

sources, Michigan finally 

took one in Iowa. 
» Page 2B

ORION SANG

Managing Sports Editor

Michigan collapses, drops

Outback Bowl to South Carolina

WEDNESDAY

- BLOCKED

Michigan 19 - South Carolina 26

TAMPA, Fla. — The college 

football offseason is long. It’s even 
longer for teams that lose their 
final game of the season in the 
fashion Michigan did on Monday 
afternoon.

With 7:49 left in the third 

quarter of the Outback Bowl, the 
Wolverines needed just nine yards 
to extend their lead to 20 and put 
the game out of reach.

By the early fourth quarter, 

Michigan (8-5 overall) 
had completely collapsed, 
surrendering a 16-point lead to 
South Carolina (9-4).

The Wolverines tried 

their darndest to lose. So the 
Gamecocks obliged.

And in a 26-19 loss, Michigan 

found out that a mid-tier New 
Year’s Day bowl is no cure for an 
8-4 hangover.

“They got better as the game 

went on, no doubt,” said Jim 
Harbaugh. “They made plays to 
win the football game. We didn’t. 

We didn’t get the knockout 

punch when we needed it. 

Didn’t take advantage of 

the opportunities that 

were there.”

The game started 
how you would 

expect large 

college-aged men 

to behave the 

noon 

after 

New 

Year’s Eve.

Both teams, far from the college 

football heavyweights slated to 
play later on New Year’s Day, 
began their Monday afternoon in 
a stupor.

Midway through the first 

quarter, there were four times 
as many commercial breaks as 
combined first downs — the 
football equivalent of stumbling 
into your kitchen, bleary-eyed, 
only to discover you’re out of 
orange juice.

The Wolverines’ 9-3 lead 

certainly wasn’t a satisfying 
halftime result. At the very least, 
they had made fewer mistakes 
than the Gamecocks, who simply 
looked as if they were ready to 
head back to bed and sleep it off.

But that changed in the second 

half.

After Michigan’s first 

possession of the second half 
produced an efficient 7-play, 72 
yard touchdown drive, the errors 
began piling up. First, Karan 
Higdon fumbled near South 
Carolina’s goal-line, tanking a 
red-zone drive. The Gamecocks 
put together their first touchdown 
drive. Then Jake Bentley hit a 
leaping Bryan Edwards for a 
21-yard score following Sean 
McKeon’s fumble deep within 
Michigan territory.

“That was our fault,” Harbaugh 

said of the lost fumble. “It was 
a coaching error. We had the 

wrong personnel in there, 

and I should’ve called 
timeout.”

Bentley was only 

beginning to heat up. 
On the next drive, 
he completed a 

53-yard touchdown bomb 
to Shi Smith to give South 

Carolina its first lead of the game.

“(South Carolina) made the 

inside seam fade,” Harbaugh said. 
“Quarterback threw a really nice 
ball in the red zone. (They) were 
able to create some big plays.”

Michigan could only continue 

unraveling. The Wolverines were 
in the process of putting together 
a response when Brandon 
Peters, in an audition for next 
year’s starting job, tossed an 
unfathomable interception on 
third-and-goal from the five-yard 
line.

And to cap things off, putting 

the finishing touch on perhaps the 
most miserable stretch Michigan 
has suffered through all year, 
Donovan Peoples-Jones dropped 
a routine punt after the defense 
forced a crucial late stop.

Up to that point, viewers might 

have been asking themselves what 
other calamities could possibly 
befall the Wolverines. But — as 
this year may have taught — there 
is always more suffering to endure 
when you play sloppy football.

After the miscue, Peoples-

Jones lingered on the ground for 
a few extra moments, seemingly 
lamenting the mistake.

He couldn’t be blamed for 

taking the extra time to gather 
himself. After all, it was just that 
type of year for the Wolverines. 
Dropping your final three games 
— all in which Michigan held a 
lead at some point — can subdue 
even the most youthful and 
excitable of teams. 

AMELIA CACCHIONE & SAM MOUSIGIAN / DAILY

B

DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN

