The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 — 15

MINNEAPOLIS — There were

10 months of alternating hope and
despair, and at the end of it, there
was a swarm of white jerseys in a
barren stadium in Minneapolis,
congregating on the 20-yard line to
celebrate a season-opening victory.

That was the scene Saturday

night at TCF Bank Stadium, closed
to all but 589 family and friends due
to the COVID-19 pandemic that
delayed the start of Big Ten play by
eight weeks, after No. 18 Michigan
beat No. 21 Minnesota, 49-24.

It was a moment cemented

by 58 minutes of the Wolverines
answering every question they’ve
faced for the past eight months.

“I’m really, just really proud of

our team,” Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh said. “I believe in them
and I respect them and I trust
them. And I just wanted to go out
there tonight and just let it rip and
they did that.”

In
the
opening
moments,

though, Michigan didn’t have it so
easy.

A promising opening drive was

derailed by a pair of negative plays
before a blocked punt set up an
easy Gophers’ touchdown. As the
Wolverines trotted off the field
down 7-0, it was easy wonder if
they were mired in the same place
they were 297 days ago, when they
rang in the new year with a Citrus
Bowl loss that made you wonder
how anything would ever change.

The 10 months since have

only added to that frustration.
Michigan had to replace its two-
year starting quarterback, Shea
Patterson, and 12 other starters, all
while navigating a pandemic that
temporarily canceled the season
back in August.

And then suddenly, over the

course of a few first-quarter
minutes
Saturday
night,

everything changed. At the center
of it all stood junior quarterback
Joe Milton, guiding Michigan
through one last hurdle.

“Joe, he’s always cool and

collected,” junior running back
Hassan Haskins said. “He don’t
get worried like that. You know
he’s gonna do his thing. So that’s
why we got all our trust in him. We
know he’s gonna do his job.”

Beleaguered
for
his
lack

of experience, Milton was a
commanding presence all night,
finishing with 277 total yards and
no turnovers in his first career
start. Famed for his arm strength,
he helped Michigan pull away
in the first quarter with a third-
down touch pass into the heart
of Minnesota’s defense followed
by a smart, simple toss to senior
fullback Ben Mason for an eight-
yard touchdown.

“(Milton) handled everything

with aplomb,” Harbaugh said. “His
accuracy in the passing game, real
command of the offense.”

But on a day that was regarded

as Milton’s reckoning, he often
took a backseat to the Wolverines’
run game, spearheaded by an
offensive line featuring four new
starters. It’s a unit that’s faced an
offseason of constant skepticism,
but throughout it all, Michigan
remained confident.

Ten plays into the game,

skepticism evaporated in the form
of a perfectly executed power run
that sophomore running back
Zach Charbonnet took 70 yards
untouched into the end zone, tying
the score at seven.

Three drives later, the defense

got on the board. Junior VIPER
Michael Barrett came off the
edge to fold Gophers’ quarterback
Tanner Morgan in half on the
precipice of his own goal line,
leaving the ball spilling away from
his splayed body into defensive
tackle Donovan Jeter’s open arms
for a Michigan lead.

“(Defensive coordinator Don

Brown) put a gameplan to give
some looks that we haven’t gave
before,” Barrett said. “It definitely
made an impact on them. You can
tell that they started checking,
being extra cautious. So yeah, it

definitely had an impact on the
game.”

The Wolverines never looked

back, scoring five touchdowns in
their next six drives, four of them
on the ground.

But with the sense of occasion

marred by an eerie silence that
could only meet game-changing
plays with a murmer, Michigan’s
jubilation never fully boiled over.
There were high fives and hugs,
but never scrums spilling onto the
field in celebration of Harbaugh’s
most decisive away win over a
ranked opponent.

And at the end of it, the only

sign of a dejected home crowd
was Minnesota’s parents turning
toward the exits en masse, a
small trickle where a river would
normally flow. On the other side
of the stadium, Michigan’s parents
gravitated down towards their
sons, who headed into the locker
room.

There, the Little Brown Jug

awaited, providing confirmation
that their first game in 297 days
had finished with their first win
in 336.

Twenty
minutes
after

Michigan
wrapped
up
a

blowout win over Minnesota —
on the road, against a ranked
team, no less — Josh Gattis left
a short message on Twitter.

“1-0,” he wrote. “We will

clean it up and keep working!”

Last year when Gattis made

similar remarks, they sounded
like excuses for an offense that
was inconsistent and made too
many mistakes. This time, they
felt like a nitpick.

Sure, there are always things

for an offense to clean up, but
the offense that showed up in
Minneapolis Saturday felt far
removed from that of Gattis’
first year.

The Wolverines put up 49

points, more than they did
against any team last year
except Rutgers. They didn’t
have a single turnover. Ten
different players had a run or
pass play of at least 10 yards.
Four of seven third downs were

converted.

A year after Gattis came to

Michigan
preaching
“speed

in space,” here it finally was
in all its glory. Finally, the
Wolverines seemed to have a
cohesive gameplan designed to
fit its offense — and executed it.

“It
feels
great
for
me

because I don’t have to do too
much,” junior quarterback Joe
Milton said. “I’ve got a lot of
playmakers. Give those guys
the ball because that’s what
they’re here for, they’re gonna
make a play.”

Indeed, Milton wasn’t asked

to do a lot. Despite Milton’s
well-known arm strength, he
attempted few deep bombs
Saturday. Instead, he tossed
screen passes and end-arounds
and ran the ball himself. But
the reason Milton didn’t need
to get too fancy was because
the plan worked. He finished
15-of-22 for 225 yards on the
night.

Whether it was junior wide

receiver Ronnie Bell breaking
tackles en route to a 30-yard run

in, senior fullback Ben Mason
cartwheeling the ball into the
end zone, junior running back
Hassan
Haskins
barreling

through defenders or Milton
keeping the ball himself, each
play seemed like it was catered
to the person making it.

“Our gameplan going in was

just, make big plays, you hear
me?” Haskins said. “We’ve got
playmakers, we’ve just gotta
make big plays. We’ve got all
the tools. … Everyone gonna
touch the field, when you’ve
got so many you can just go to
whoever you want. Everybody
get their shine on, everybody
do their thing and just go like
that.”

Last year, Michigan largely

lacked an offensive identity.
Against teams like Penn State,
Wisconsin and Ohio State, it
played too sloppy and turned
the ball over too many times.
Meanwhile,
it
consistently

came up short in big moments.

Saturday was, of course, one

game. The next step for the
Wolverines is doing it again
and again. But the win over the
Golden Gophers showed what
Michigan’s offense can be — one
full of playmakers and capable
of getting those playmakers the
ball consistently.

“I just trust them and I

just wanted them to do that
because they’re talented guys,”
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
said. “Just put talented guys out
there … and see what happens
and let everybody be surprised
at how good he does. That’s
what I envisioned, that’s how I
visualized this game.”

Just put talented guys out

there and see what happens.
If the Wolverines can do that
every Saturday, they could
have an offense capable of
making noise against good
teams. That’s credit to Gattis
and his offensive philosophy
that seems to finally be coming
to fruition.

In an impressive first start, Joe Milton vindicates Michigan’s process

MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Milton

didn’t think he’d be emotional.

He had prepared for this

moment for the better part of
three years or, in some senses,
a lifetime. He thought that
meant he would be stoic on
Saturday, when he was set to
suit up as Michigan’s starting
quarterback for the first time.

So
Milton
embarked
on

the same routine he’s carried
out as the Wolverines’ third
stringer for the past two years.
He walked into the locker
room, dressed head to toe
in blue Michigan warmups,
save for a pair of all-black
Nike Air Force 1s and a white
beanie emblazoned with the
logo of The Uniform Funding
Foundation. Over the beanie, he
played music through a pair of
black headphones.

When he got into the locker

room, Milton sat down and
removed
his
headphones,

immersing
himself
in
the

surroundings
of
TCF
Bank

Stadium’s away locker room.

That’s when it hit him.
“I started tearing up,” Milton

said, “because it’s real.”

Four hours later, he had

commanded
a
convincing,

49-24,
win
over
No.
21

Minnesota, the biggest road
win over a ranked team in the
Jim
Harbaugh
era.
Milton

completed 15 of 22 passes for
225 yards and a touchdown,
adding 52 yards and a score on
the ground.

For Milton, it was a dream

debut. For Michigan, it was
the
vindicating
culmination

of four years of scouting and
development.

The Wolverines first heard

about
Milton
in
part
due

to his high school coach’s
connections on the Michigan
staff. Immediately, Milton, a
converted wide receiver, caught
the eye of Harbaugh and then-
offensive
coordinator
Tim

Drevno.

“His arm strength was huge

coming out of high school,”

Drevno told The Daily this
week. “He was a guy who could
make a play where there was no
play to be made.”

That much is lore by now —

the 80-yard throws in practice,
the
passes
delivered
with

such force that they mangle
receivers’ hands.

But shrouding the talent was

a unique lack of production.
While
most
four-star
high

school
quarterbacks
are

leading their teams to state
titles, Milton never eclipsed a
50% completion percentage at
Olympia High School.

His weaknesses, according to

Drevno, ranged from dropback
technique to going through his
reads. And yet, excitement in
their new recruit bubbled at
Schembechler Hall.

“You don’t want to get the

guy that’s already polished,”
Drevno said. “You wanna know
a guy, what’s his ceiling? How
much better is he gonna get?”

In Milton, Michigan had that

to the extreme. So from the
moment he arrived on campus

in the winter of 2018, the
Wolverines had a development
plan.

Initially fourth on the depth

chart behind Shea Patterson,
Dylan McCaffrey and Brandon
Peters, Milton still saw an
outsized share of the workload
in practices to acclimate him to
the speed of college football.

“They knew what he was

capable of,” Kyle Grady, a walk
on quarterback who was with
the team during the 2018-19
school year, told The Daily.
“And they did a good job of
getting him in there, getting
him physical reps.”

But more important at first

was his work in the film room.

Over the course of his first

year
at
Michigan,
Milton

worked with Pep Hamilton,
the Wolverines’ passing game
coordinator at the time, to
improve his understanding of
defenses.
That
development

course
accelerated
in
Jan.

2019, when Michigan replaced
Hamilton
with
offensive

coordinator Josh Gattis and

promoted
offensive
analyst

Ben McDaniels to quarterbacks
coach.

According
to
Grady,

McDaniels
had
a
different

approach
to
Milton’s

development.
McDaniels

started
from
square
one,

making Milton re-learn the
most basic defensive schemes
— Cover 0 and Cover 1 — and
building up to obscure and
disguised variances of more
flexible schemes like Cover 2
and Cover 6.

“That was huge for all the

quarterbacks’
development,

but Joe specifically to go from
square
one,
ask
questions

he needs to ask and really
thoroughly understand what
the defense is trying to do to
you,” Grady said.

By last fall, when McCaffrey

suffered
a
concussion
that

forced Milton into backup duty,
his progress was tangible. He
showed the touch that Harbaugh
has repeatedly emphasized on
multiple occasions, including on
his first career touchdown pass
against Rutgers.

“There’s
different
ball

flights, different appropriate
throws,” Harbaugh said then.
“Not everything is a line drive
fastball.”

Early in the first quarter

on
Saturday,
it
was
that

development that crystalized
itself on the most important
play of Milton’s young career.
Tied at seven on the edge of
field goal range, Michigan faced
a key early third-and-5.

Freshman receiver Roman

Wilson lined up in the slot
to the left, running a post
route over the middle, where
Milton delivered a perfectly
placed touch pass in between
the dropping linebackers and
converging safeties.

A drive later, it was Milton’s

decision making on display.
Rolling out to his left from the
eight-yard line, Milton had
Wilson and sophomore tight
end Erick All running routes in
the end zone. When both players
were covered, he sold a fake to
All and found senior fullback
Ben Mason in the flat, allowing
Mason to make an acrobatic

play for the touchdown.

“He was on target all night

and played with the poise of a
savvy veteran,” Harbaugh said
after the game. “Had a great
command of the offense.”

There were times, too, when

Milton’s innate duality shone
through.

With 22 seconds left in

the first half, he misread the
defense, throwing to All in
double coverage on a four
verticals concept and narrowly
avoiding an interception. After
the
game,
Harbaugh
said,

“He went through his reads
extremely
well.
Maybe
he

missed one that I can think of,”
likely in reference to the play.

Milton, though, regrouped

and made the type of throw that
had the Wolverines salivating
over him as a high school
prospect. Rolling to his left
away from pressure, Milton
flicked his wrist and delivered
a 45-yard pass across his body,
inches away from sophomore
receiver
Giles
Jackson’s

outstretched arms, only foiled
by Jackson’s indirect route to
the ball.

A quarter later, Milton made

a similar play, only more within
the realm of human possibility.
Stepping up to his left again, he
found All in the flat. Harbaugh
later called it a “perfect” throw,
on a play that he said Milton
wouldn’t have been able to make
a year or two ago.

It came a play after Milton

jumped sideways down the
Michigan sideline, with his
left arm on his hip and right
arm pointed toward All in
celebration
of
a
surefire

touchdown only to see his pass
drop through All’s hands. When
it fell, Milton briefly dropped
his head in dejection, before
jogging back to the huddle and
trying again.

Two
plays
later,
the

Wolverines were in the end
zone anyway, thanks to their
new quarterback, and the three
years that turned his promise
into reality.

“I was pretty impressed with

myself,” Milton said through a
thin smile. “I’ve been working
on that a long time.”

Hunting Gophers

Behind high-powered offensive attack, Wolverines beat Minnesota in season opener, 49-24

THEO MACKIE

Managing Sports Editor

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

COURTESY OF THE MINNESOTA DAILY

Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck was left without answers as his defense gave up 49 points to Michigan on Saturday.

COURTESY OF THE MINNESOTA DAILY

Junior quarterback Joe Milton was 15-for-22 for 225 yards and a touchdown with 52 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in his long-awaited debut.

THEO MACKIE

Managing Sports Editor