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Big Rushing Day, Stout D Carry Michigan Past EMU
ANN
ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior quarterback Denard Robinson (Deerfield Beach,
Fla./Deerfield Beach) and junior running back Vincent Smith (Pahokee,
Fla./Pahokee) each eclipsed 100 yards rushing as the University of
Michigan football team ran over Eastern Michigan, 31-3, on Saturday
(Sept. 17) at Michigan Stadium. Robinson neared his career high in
rushing attempts with 26, amassing 198 yards and a touchdown, while
Smith ran the ball nine times for 118 yards.
The Wolverines
piled up 376 rushing yards (2 TDs), the most since registering 466
rushing yards against Bowling Green last season. Robinson and Smith
became the first Wolverines to both eclipse 100 rushing yards in the
same game since Robinson and senior running back Michael Shaw
(Trotwood, Ohio/Trotwood-Madison) accomplished the feat last season
against Massachusetts. Junior/sophomore tailback Fitzgerald Toussaint
(Youngstown, Ohio/Liberty) added 11 carries for 46 yards and punched in
a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Robinson completed
7-of-18 passes for 95 yards but still managed to throw for two
touchdowns, connecting with senior tight end Kevin Koger (Toledo,
Ohio/Whitmer) in the second quarter for Michigan's first touchdown and
sophomore wide receiver Drew Dileo (Greenwell Springs, La./Parkview
Baptist) in the third quarter. Junior/sophomore wideout Jeremy Gallon
(Apopka, Fla./Apopka) was Robinson's favorite target, grabbing three
passes for a team-high 43 yards.
On defense, junior/sophomore
safety Thomas Gordon (Detroit, Mich./Cass Technical) tallied his first
career fumble recovery and first career interception while adding six
tackles. Both of Gordon's takeaways keyed U-M's first-half defense. In
his first career start, junior outside linebacker Brandin Hawthorne
(Pahokee, Fla./Pahokee) earned his first double-digit tackle
performance with a team-high 10 stops, including a tackle-for-loss.
Junior Craig Roh (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral) made five tackles,
including his first sack of the season, and sophomore Jibreel Black
(Cincinnati, Ohio/Wyoming) registered four tackles and his first career
forced fumble.
Michigan only tallied 32 total offensive yards in
the first quarter while allowing Eastern Michigan to gain 122 yards on
the ground. The Eagles moved the ball into red zone on two early
drives, but EMU could only put three points on the scoreboard. On the
first drive, Eastern Michigan opted to go for the end zone on
fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, but senior/junior safety Jordan
Kovacs (Curtice, Ohio/Clay) stuffed the leaping Eagles ball carrier
short of the goal line to force a turnover on downs. EMU stalled at the
four-yard line on the second drive and kicked a 21-yard field goal for
a 3-0 lead to start the second quarter.
The game began to turn
in Michigan's favor early in the second quarter when Gordon made a
miraculous one-handed interception three yards shy of the Michigan goal
line on an EMU trick pass play. The offense proceeded to march 97 yards
down the field for a touchdown and Michigan's first lead of the game,
7-3. Robinson rushed on the drive's first four plays for 76 yards,
including a season-long 52-yard scamper, and capped the scoring drive
by tossing a nine-yard touchdown pass to Koger.
The Maize and
Blue tacked on another touchdown with 39 seconds left in the second
quarter to take a 14-3 lead heading into halftime. Michigan moved the
ball downfield quickly, covering 87 yards in just six plays. All six
plays were runs, featuring Robinson and Smith. Both Robinson and Smith
registered 38 rushing yards on the drive, with Robinson earning four
carries and Smith doing it on one long run up the left sidelines.
Robinson finished the drive with an untouched 11-yard touchdown up the
middle of the field on a designed quarterback run.
Michigan
began to pull away from Eastern Michigan in the second half with long,
sustained touchdown drives. Toussaint recorded his third rushing
touchdown of the season on U-M's opening drive of the third quarter,
diving across the goal line from one yard out to put the Wolverines
ahead of the Eagles, 21-3. Dileo added another Michigan touchdown --
the first of his career -- on the ensuing possessing, snagging a
Robinson bullet on a fake quarterback draw for a 19-yard score with
1:05 left in the third quarter.
Robinson led the Wolverines on
another long scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. The 13-play,
84-yard possession stalled inside EMU's five-yard line when a Robinson
third-down pass was a little too high for the outstretched hands of
senior/junior tight end Brandon Moore (Trotwood, Ohio/Trotwood-Madison)
in the end zone. Michigan settled for its first field goal of the
season -- a 21-yarder -- by junior/sophomore placekicker Brendan
Gibbons (West Palm Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman) for the game's final
score, 31-3.
Michigan rounds out its non-conference slate next
Saturday (Sept. 24) against San Diego State at Michigan Stadium. The
Wolverines and the Aztecs will kickoff at noon and be televised on BTN.
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