SPORTSMONDAY
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | September 9, 2019
MICHIGAN ESCAPES IN 20T
All Aidan Hutchinson remembers is that
Michigan was in its base defense.
He doesn’t remember bending around one
lineman and going through another. He
doesn’t remember that Kwity Paye had
already hit Army’s Kelvin Hopkins and he
doesn’t remember extending his left arm,
knocking the ball loose. He just knows he
hit the quarterback. After that, he blacked
out, in a celebratory haze. He wasn’t the only
one.
So did Zach Charboonnet and so did Paye
himself, the man who pounced on the ball,
waiting at the center of a packed Michigan
Stadium for the referee to confirm what the
whole building already knew, then charging
upfield to the student section to commem-
orate a game that should have been routine
and instead was anything but.
“Whatever I did,” Hutchinson said after-
wards, the game ball placed next to him on
the podium, “hopefully, it was good.”
It was. Without it, Army might have picked
up a third-down conversion, breathing new
life into its offense when a touchdown would
have won the game in the second overtime.
Thanks to that play, Michigan escaped an
upset bid, pulling out a 24-21 double-OT
win over Army, moving to 2-0 in a game that
could have derailed its season before Big Ten
play even started.
The Wolverines needed Army to miss a
50-yard field goal as time expired in regu-
lation to even get as far as overtime. After
trading scores in the first OT, Michigan got
nothing on its next three plays, setting up a
43-yard kick from Jake Moody and putting
the weight of the world on its defense’s
shoulders.
They carried it.
“That was a gem of a defensive performance,
there’s no doubt about it,” Michigan coach
Jim Harbaugh said. “Talk about the last play,
the last series, just the entire football game.”
Despite the positivity of the head coach, all
the promise of Michigan’s offseason seemed
to evaporate in the September heat, a heavily
advertised offense struggling to move the
ball and a defense that got pushed around at
times by a smaller Army offensive line.
Two first-half fumbles handed Army a half-
time lead, the Wolverines’ only score coming
after a fake punt extended a drive. Midway
through the third quarter, Michigan still
seemed poised for collapse.
Then, staring at third down on Michigan’s
five-yard line, Army coach Jeff Monken
decided to throw the ball. Lavert Hill picked
the floating football out of the air and a
cheer came in the form of 111,000 exhales.
On the ensuing drive, it took a third-down
pass interference and a perfectly-placed ball
from Shea Patterson to Ronnie Bell, also
on third down, to keep things moving. But
freshman running back Zach Charbonnet
punched it in from a yard out for his second
of three touchdowns on the day, knotting
things up at 14.
The score stayed there until overtime as
Michigan failed to convert a red-zone
chance deep in the fourth quarter, Army
stuffing Charbonnet on fourth-and-2 and
bringing all of Michigan Stadium’s anxiety
to a nadir.
After the game, Harbaugh said the pass
protection was “really good,” acknowledging
only missed assignments on Patterson’s two
fumbles. He said left tackle Jon Runyan Jr.
will likely play after the bye week and went
out of his way to praise Ryan Hayes’ perfor-
mance in his stead. He rejected outright a
question about the run-heavy second half
and had little patience for another about
whether Patterson not keeping the ball on
option runs had to do with a minor injury
suffered last week.
Still, the fact remains: This did not look like
a team ready to compete for anything, and
the schedule does not get any easier.
Josh Gattis’ offense, which promised an
up-tempo, modern attack, has failed to
sustain success, averaging just 4.5 yards per
play against Army. The offensive line looked
out of its depth in protection against a Black
Knight defense that must blitz constantly
to make up for a lack of size. Injured or not,
Patterson has seemed reluctant to run the
ball, and he’s fumbled four times in two
weeks.
“We just got some kinks in the offense that
we’re still working through,” senior guard
Ben Bredeson said. “It’s a new look for us.
We’re two weeks in and going into this bye
week, going into the Big Ten season, it’ll be
good for us.
“We’ve seen what’s working for us, what’s
not and we’ll be able to make some changes.”
Ethan Sears
Managing Sports Editor
MICHIGAN 24 ARMY 21 (2OT)
Natalie Stephens and Alexis Rankin / Daily Design by Jack Silberman
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