JOSH TAUBMAN
Daily Sports Editor

PISCATAWAY — When the No. 
5 Michigan football team found 
itself in an unlikely 17-14 halftime 
deficit, it looked to the defense to 
generate some life. 
And in the subsequent 30 
minutes the defense ignited that 
spark, snagging three second half 
turnovers to turn a dicey game 
into a rout. 
Michigan (9-0 overall, 6-0 
Big Ten) overcame a slow start, 
ultimately pulling away from 
Rutgers (4-5, 1-5) for a 52-17 win 
Saturday night. The Wolverines 
followed the blueprint they have 
used all season, leaning on the 
ground game and second half 
adjustments to remain undefeated. 
“It’s one of those things that 
pulls your team tighter and tighter 
together,” Michigan coach Jim 
Harbaugh said. “There was no 
pointing fingers at the offense, 

no pointing fingers at the special 
teams, no pointing fingers at the 
defense. (The message) was ‘Hey, 
we’re gonna get this done, we’re 
gonna get this done together.’ ”
The first half, though, was one 
to forget for the Wolverines. The 
trouble began on the second drive 
of the game, when graduate punter 
Brad Robbins’ punt was blocked 
and recovered for a touchdown to 
tie the game at seven. 
In the second quarter, things 
went from bad to worse. Michigan 
retook the lead 14-10 but couldn’t 
extend its advantage when the 
usually reliable graduate kicker 
Jake Moody missed a 50-yard 
field goal wide right. Rutgers, 
emboldened by the Wolverines’ 
miscues, 
responded 
with 
an 
emphatic touchdown drive. 
Another miss from Moody with 
seconds remaining in the half, 
again from 50 yards, meant it was 
officially gut check time for the 
Wolverines. 
They walked to the locker room 
stunned, facing their first half 

time deficit of the season.
But unexpectedly tight first 
half contests have been a theme 
for the Wolverines all year. And 
yet again, there was no sense of 
panic in the locker room — and 
no halftime hype up speech was 
warranted. 
“I feel like there was no 

message,” senior defensive end 
Mike Morris said. “We prepared 
for this moment since spring 
ball. Coach Harbaugh always 
organizes situations where we 
are put at a disadvantage … so 
moments like these are easy.”
As the second half kicked 
off, electricity swelled around 
SHI stadium. Up by three and 

SPORTSWEDNESDAY

receiving the ball to start, the 
Scarlet Knights believed. But 
Michigan, harkening back to those 
spring ball workouts, responded. 
It began with the defense 
forcing a three-and-out, quickly 
returning the ball to its offense. 
Then 
sophomore 
quarterback 
J.J. McCarthy, after struggling 

in the first half, finally displayed 
his patented passing ability — 
connecting on a 26-yard pass 
down the sidelines to sophomore 
running back Donovan Edwards 
to jumpstart the drive. McCarthy 
then capped it with a 14-yard 
touchdown 
pass 
threaded 
to 
Edwards in the back corner of the 
end zone. 

MICHIGAN 52

Michigan starts slow, wakes up in second half to put Scarlet Knights to bed

In the locker room, after 
Rutgers had connected on some 
big plays, graduate linebacker 
Mike Barrett preached that the 
Wolverines needed to respond 
with some of their own. And he 
took the onus upon himself to 
make it happen. 
Two 
plays 
after 
Edwards’ 
touchdown, Barrett jumped a 
pass and gave the Wolverines the 
ball back on the ten-yard line. 
Junior running back Blake Corum 
scampered in for a touchdown 
moments later. 
On 
the 
next 
play 
from 
scrimmage, a Rutgers pass skipped 
off the hands of a Scarlet Knights 
receiver and the ball floated right 
to Barrett again, and this time he 
ran it all the way to the house.
In the blink of an eye, Michigan 
was up 35-17. And Rutgers’ hopes 
of an upset had fizzled. 
“Everybody 
is 
motivating 
everybody,” Barrett said. “I feel 
like once we come out in the 
second half, once we get that 
breath, we just come out ready to 

hunt.”
The Wolverines continued to 
flex their muscles the remainder 
of the game. The secondary, 
which was picked apart in the 
first half, locked down the aerial 
attack, helped pitch a shutout and 
constantly created short fields for 
the offense. 
The offense made good on those 
efforts, putting up 31 second half 
points and running up the second 
half scoring margin to a dominant 
100-3 mark over the last four 
games. 
“We all know what kind of team 
we are,” Barrett said. “We were all 
just going around motivating each 
other, telling everybody that the 
second half was ours.”
It was a tale of two halves 
for Michigan, a trend that has 
followed it much of the season.
But 
once 
again, 
when 
uncertainty 
swirled, 
the 
Wolverines removed all doubt 
and proved an uncomfortable 
situation was something that they 
could handle with ease.

NighT
KNIGHT

It was a tale of two halves for 
Michigan, a trend that has followed it 
much of the season.

RUTGERS 17

EMMA MATI/Daily, JULIANNE YOON/DAILY | Design by Lys Goldman

