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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