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
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DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN