Tough start

The No. 4 Michigan hockey 
team lost to Vermont in 
the season opener, then 
rebounded with an exhibition 
win over Waterloo.

» Page 4B

Here’s the season

After dominating Maryland 
on Saturday, the toughest 
part of Michigan’s schedule 
lies ahead. 

» Page 2B

SPORTSMONDAY

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | October 8, 2018

WAITING FOR

WISCONSIN

Design by Jack Silberman
Emma Richter / Daily

No. 15 Michigan topples Terrapins for fifth win in a row

The way Shea Patterson 
contorted his body to set up 
his throw could be considered 
inadvisable. But it was good 
enough to find the end zone.
From the Maryland 22-yard 
line, with 16 seconds left in 
the first half, Patterson passed 
across his body to hit a crossing 
Ronnie Bell right on the 
numbers, and the freshman 
wide receiver stumbled his way 
in for the touchdown.
“How about my guy Ronnie 
Bell making the tough catch 
across the middle,” said coach 
Jim Harbaugh. “It takes guys 
years, sometimes decades or 
decades to have that kind of 
fearless and ability to catch a ball 
over the middle, and not only 
catch it but finish it.”
The score set the No. 15 
Michigan football team up 
with a two-possession lead into 
halftime and the beginning of a 
runaway against the Terrapins. 

The Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten, 
5-1 overall) would outgain 
Maryland, 465 to 220 yards, on 
Saturday afternoon en route to a 
42-21 victory.
The contest against the 
Terrapins (1-1, 3-2) was 
originally in doubt with overcast 
skies delaying the game 70 
minutes. A sopping field beget 
a ground-and-pound strategy 
from Michigan out of the gate. 
Senior running back Karan 
Higdon finished the day with 
25 carries — 19 in the first half 
— for 103 yards. Sophomore 
fullback Ben Mason had five 
carries — three to convert short-
yardage first downs — and the 
Wolverines’ first score of the 
day.
But Mason’s day was 
summarized by his highlight 
reel play. After receiving a pass 
in the flat, Mason turned upfield 
and hurdled a defender for a 
15-yard reception.
“I saw it on his high school 
tape and I didn’t think I’d see it 
again,” said sophomore center 
Cesar Ruiz. “I saw it out of the 

corner of my eye today. I had 
to look at the video screen and 
make sure.”
Maryland, on the other 
hand, couldn’t pull any stunts 
— it hardly had time to develop 
any semblance of an offensive 
strategy. Michigan’s defense 
allowed just 42 yards in the 
first half, with the Terrapins’ 
only points coming on a 98-yard 
kickoff return. For the game, 
quarterbacks Kasim Hill and 
Tyrrell Pigrome combined to 
complete seven of 13 attempts 
for 73 yards and a pick.
“It was really an epic 
defensive performance,” 
Harbaugh said. “We got a little 
thin toward the end of the game, 
but it was a great job, great 
performance. This Maryland 
team has a very potent running 
game. … We’d seen it on tape, a 
lot of misdirection, a lot of eye 
distraction and ability to open 
up seams, lots of longs runs — 
we didn’t give those up today.”
Despite a depleted defensive 
line — Rashan Gary and 
Aubrey Solomon were sidelined 

with injuries, and Michael 
Dwumfour exited in the second 
quarter with a non-contact 
injury — the Wolverines’ 
front seven wreaked havoc all 
afternoon. Dwumfour recorded 
a sack before his early departure, 
and junior VIPER Khaleke 
Hudson had his first sack of the 
year. And in garbage time, fifth-
year senior cornerback Brandon 
Watson returned an interception 
to the house.
The absent interior was 
certainly missed on Maryland’s 
final drive, though. Pigrome 
took off for a 41-yard run as 
well as a five-yard rushing 
touchdown up the middle.
“There has been a couple 
bang-ups on the d-line,” Hudson 
said. “But we just trust in the 
backups to come in and do what 
they gotta do and work hard and 
get the job done. The linebackers 
are doing what we’ve gotta do 
and the safeties counter off of 
that.”
And despite those few lapses, 
Patterson quietly kept the 
offense humming on Saturday, 

his theatrics not limited to Bell’s 
touchdown. With 2:15 left in the 
third quarter, Patterson spun 
away from two-man pressure 
— what Harbaugh called a 
“whirly bird” — to find Donovan 
Peoples-Jones open down the 
right sideline with running 
room for a 34-yard touchdown.
The junior quarterback 
finished the day 19-for-27 for 
three touchdowns and 282 
yards, surpassing his season-
high in passing yards on the 
throw to Peoples-Jones. Junior 
tight end Zach Gentry also 
had a career day as Patterson’s 
go-to, grabbing highs of seven 
receptions for 112 yards.
“It was players making plays 
today,” Harbaugh said. “That’s 
really what I saw, starting with 
Shea. Guys just making plays. 
Gentry making plays, finding 
seams, making the catches. … It 
was really the theme through 
this game: players making 
plays.”
Saturday’s game hardly made 
any declarative statements about 
Michigan’s potential headed into 

the second half of the season. 
But strides in the offensive line 
portended confidence with an 
impending three-game slate 
against No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 
20 Michigan State and No. 11 
Penn State. Patterson stayed 
upright the whole contest, and 
the ground game managed 171 
yards, 4.3 per carry.
“Offensive line is playing 
well,” Harbaugh said. 
“(Offensive line coach) Ed 
Warinner is doing a heck of a job 
with those guys. I think they’re 
all playing their best football, 
starting from Jon Runyan, Ben 
Bredeson, Cesar Ruiz, Mike 
Onwenu, and Juwann (Bushell-
Beatty). (They) are all playing 
their best football and playing 
well together.”
The Wolverines could very 
well hit the reset button in the 
week against stiffer competition. 
After all, Ben Mason hurdles 
and Shea Patterson “whirly 
birds” are far from a given. But 
you would be hard-pressed to 
question a setback based on 
Saturday’s blowout.

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer

MICHIGAN 42
MARYLAND 21

