What they're saying about Michigan football after demolishing UConn
Michigan football moved to 3-0 on the season after a 59-0 blowout over the UConn Huskies, headlined by another clean and decisive performance in all three phases of the game.
Most agree that 3-straight blowout wins have not truly shown the full potential of the Wolverines. Most media members are fixated on that as we seek answers about the ceiling moving forward.
Here is a sampling of what the local and national media are saying about Michigan coming off the big victory. This will be updated as more opinions come in from around the media sphere.
UConn head coach Jim Mora Jr. loves Michigan
“I’ve never had a day like this in my career. [That’s] a team that will be contending for the national championship, and they served it up pretty good to us today.”
“We were overwhelmed as an offense today,” Mora said, comparing the Michigan defense to the Georgia defense that handled U-M in the Orange Bowl. … “Don’t have a weakness on that football team.
“40 players that are big, fast, strong, physical, well-coached. [Michigan] play with violence, they play with energy. They don’t miss tackles [and] they challenge you. They run the ball well, they pass the ball well, their quarterback runs it well … they’ve got speed all over the field.”
John Borton, The Wolverine
Wolverine Watch: Michigan finishes slaughterhouse trio
It’s J.J. McCarthy’s team — The sophomore signal caller doubled down on his impressive first start by leading the Husky hammering. His 15-for-18, 214-yard, no-turnover performance showed more of the same — strong arm, great feet, ball protection and an increasing veteran’s savvy.
McCarthy didn’t need to throw 40 times to euthanize the Huskies, but if he had and aired it out more, he might have passed for 600 yards. It looked all too easy, and regardless of the opponent, the sophomore handles himself like he’s right where he belongs — at the heart of what could become an unbelievably potent attack. With senior quarterback Cade McNamara now out a few weeks with injury, his importance grows that much more.
Don’t think for a minute his coaches and teammates don’t know it, too.
“He’s very locked in,” head coach Jim Harbaugh stressed. “He’s very good. He keeps getting better and better, from our vantage point. Going through progressions, going through reads, making plays, really throwing the ball accurately, making really good decisions…
“The way he bounces around, the enthusiasm he has for playing. He’s like a kid in a candy store. It’s fun to be around.”
Chris Balas, The Wolverine
Michigan 59, UConn 0: Notes, quotes, and observations
Another week, another Michigan football win over a tomato can … and now it’s about to get real.
Well … kind of.
At the very least, the Wolverines will be taking on a team next week in Maryland that has athletes that can challenge them at some positions. UConn, a 59-0 loser in Ann Arbor Saturday, did not. The Wolverines feasted for the third week in a row, and we still don’t know —
How good is this team, really?
Apparently we’re not alone.
“You don’t know. I don’t really know how good we are,” senior running back Blake Corum, who ran for five touchdowns in tying a Michigan single-game record, said. “I feel like we look good, but we haven’t faced any adversity yet. So, we really don’t know how good we’re going to be.”
He thinks the Michigan offense will be good, he said, and that the “sky is the limit” for the team. But it might be a bit longer until we find out.
Michigan will be a heavy favorite against the Terrapins, a team with a nice quarterback and talented receivers, but one the Wolverines always seem to handle. Iowa on the road — no pushover defensively, obviously, and the Hawkeyes always seem to get up for Michigan at home.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh said “we’ll find out” when asked if his team would be ready for Big Ten play. But he sees them every day, and he knows their traits and desire.
Michael Cohen, Detroit Free Press
Michigan football grades vs. UConn: Nearly straight As, except for this 1 aspect
Depending on how the next few weeks unfold, Harbaugh’s bizarre decision at the end of the first half could come back to haunt the Wolverines. A failed fourth-down attempt by Connecticut gave Michigan the ball at its own 43-yard line with 24 seconds left in the second quarter and a 38-0 lead. Rather than having his offense kneel to send both teams to the locker room, Harbaugh inserted backup quarterback Cade McNamara to run the two-minute offense. McNamara was sacked for a loss of five yards on first down, after which Harbaugh used a timeout.
The Wolverines called another pass on second down, and McNamara completed to Bell for 18 yards. But McNamara got leveled by two defenders as he released the ball, one of whom crashed into the side of his leg. He limped back to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball and set up a 62-yard field goal attempt for Moody. Then McNamara hobbled toward the sideline doubled over in pain. He remained in the locker room after halftime with a leg injury and will miss several weeks, according to Harbaugh.
“Not gonna be a season-ending thing, I don’t think,” Harbaugh said. “But he’ll miss some time.” Now Michigan enters Big Ten play without a reliable backup.
Davis Warren and former Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman are the players most likely to compete for the No. 2 spot behind McCarthy. Saturday also marked the first time this season Michigan was bothered by organizational issues. Instances of confusion and misalignment forced U-M’s offense to burn two timeouts in the first quarter. Minter’s defense also had moments when players were caught out of position as the ball was snapped, especially as players shuffled in the trenches. It’s something to watch in the coming weeks.
Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News
Wojo: Appetizers done after 59-0 rout, Wolverines ready to feast for real
On the Fox halftime show Saturday, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was asked to name a surprise team in the country. He picked the Wolverines, noting they lost seven defensive starters off their Big Ten championship team, as well as both coordinators.
His response sort of sounded like the “rat poison” that Nick Saban famously derides, nuggets of praise that can weaken you.
“We all expected a little bit of a drop-off (in UM),” Meyer said. “But you watch that film, and I hate to say this, they’re fast-fast on offense. Their skill is outstanding, well coached. I thought throughout the season they’d get better … I watched that film and I said uh-oh, they got it going again.”
Uh-oh so far. And yes, some things are obvious regardless of the competition. McCarthy’s arm strength, mobility and poise are clear, although he won’t get away with dangerous shots into double coverage against Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State. The Wolverines play only one of those three on the road, so the path is there to defend their title.
Michigan won’t drop half a hundred on many Big Ten foes, no matter how down the conference appears. And no, they might not be the fourth-best team in country, no matter what the rankings say. All you can draw out of their nonconference massacres is they have talent, hunger, speed and depth. Perhaps most important, they have a quarterback with growing confidence and a coach who likes everything he sees.
Nicole Auerbach, The Athletic
Michigan stays at No. 4 in Auerbach’s Top 10
Mercifully, Michigan has finished off its cream-puff nonconference slate, blanking UConn 59-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Wolverines put up at least 51 points in each of their games against Colorado State, Hawaii and UConn, and they only allowed 17 points over the three games combined. While a lot of college football fans may roll their eyes at what Michigan has done so far this season because of the level of competition, I’ll let myself get a little excited. The Wolverines have taken care of business early and easily, exactly the way you’d want to see them do it against inferior opponents. They have looked strong defensively, and special teams have also provided material for the highlight reel, including AJ Henning’s punt return touchdown Saturday.
The last two weeks have provided an opportunity for J.J. McCarthy to get comfortable as Michigan’s starting quarterback and begin pushing the envelope of what’s possible for the offense. The ceiling is high with McCarthy because of the threat he provides on the ground and the laser he has for an arm. He’s just starting to scratch the surface, and we’ll get a better sense of where he and the Wolverines are next week against Maryland.
Austin Meek, The Athletic
Michigan takeaways: A 3-0 start that means what exactly? J.J. McCarthy stays hot
After coming close in the first two games, Michigan’s special teams broke through Saturday with several impactful plays, including a blocked punt from Caden Kolesar to set up a touchdown, a 61-yard punt return touchdown from AJ Henning and a 62-yard punt from Brad Robbins.
“Special teams is the game-changer, as you saw today,” Corum said. “Special teams went crazy. Shoutout to them.”
Special teams coach Jay Harbaugh has shown a knack for scheming up blocked punts, and the Wolverines did it again by overloading one side of the formation and getting a free rusher at the punter. Henning’s punt-return touchdown, Michigan’s first since Donovan Peoples-Jones had one against Nebraska in 2018, was a combination of perfect blocking and shifty running from Henning, who broke several tackles en route to the end zone.
“It’s very rare to get a block and a return for a touchdown,” Harbaugh said. “I can’t remember that happening too often in any game I’ve ever watched. I’m really proud of the way the guys are playing. They’re doing a heck of a job.”
Nick Baumgardner, The Athletic
Tracking the 2023 NFL Draft: Hendon Hooker is thriving for Tennessee
Michigan fourth-year running back Blake Corum tied a program record with five rushing touchdowns during a 59-0 shredding of UConn on Saturday. Corum finished with 12 carries for 71 yards and now leads the team with 235 yards and seven TDs through three games.
In addition, Michigan played without Corum’s top backfield-mate, Donovan Edwards (undisclosed injury). Edwards’ status moving forward remains a question mark. An extended absence, though, could heap more work onto the plate of the 5-foot-8 Corum, who bulked up to 210 pounds ahead of this season after proving to be a very dependable gap and zone runner in Michigan’s power-spread attack last year.
Corum was the speed complement to Hassan Haskins’ power in 2021, but the Virginia native is hoping to show off his game’s full picture — which should include work out of the backfield — this season. Corum ran a 4.44-second laser-timed 40 at The Opening in 2019 and has shown good agility throughout his Michigan career. A patient runner with the capability to play all three downs, Corum has to stay consistent with his reads (and his hands) this season.
The No. 8-ranked draft-eligible underclassmen RB on Brugler’s preseason list, Corum has NFL traits and seems like he could be a day-three value at the moment. But an explosive season could elevate his stock.
Heather Dinich, ESPN.com
College Football Playoff questions for five teams after three weeks
Now Michigan needs to prove itself against better, ranked competition.
By the end of October, Michigan will have faced Iowa, Penn State and Michigan State, revealing how seriously to take the Wolverines in the Big Ten and the national picture. The Oct. 1 crossover game at Iowa could be tricky. The Wolverines have lost four in a row at Iowa — all by eight points or fewer (one possession). They haven’t won in Iowa City since 2005.
The trip to Iowa will be Michigan’s first true test of the season, but September has been an opportunity to identify J.J. McCarthy as the starting quarterback and build confidence on a defense that replaced NFL-bound stars Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo. So far, Michigan hasn’t allowed any first-half points. Michigan’s defense has held its opponents to 17 points through the first three weeks — the fewest total points allowed in that span since the 2003 season.
It’s highly unlikely Michigan is going to continue to win by 40 points per game, but if it can continue to win the turnover battle, make game-changing plays on special teams and highlight the balanced offense through the conference schedule, it will have a legitimate chance to return to the CFP. The Wolverines are probably going to have to win the Big Ten, though, because anything less will bring this September schedule under the microscope in the selection committee meeting room.
That’s when a 40-point margin of victory against Colorado State, Hawai’i and UConn won’t equate to the top four.
David M. Hale, ESPN.com
College football Week 3 highlights: Top plays, games and takeaways
Michigan hasn’t exactly challenged itself with its non-conference schedule to start the season. In Week 1, the Wolverines were 31-point favorites against Colorado State. In Week 2, Michigan was a 52-point favorite against Hawaii. And on Saturday, UConn arrived at the Big House as a 47.5-point underdog.
According to ESPN, Michigan is the first team since the FBS/FCS split in 1978 to be favored by at least 45 points in consecutive games and the first team to be favored by at least 31 in its first three games of the year since 2001 Florida.
And even with the hefty spread, Michigan still had no trouble covering Saturday. Behind five touchdowns from Blake Corum, the Wolverines topped UConn 59-0.
Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire
Big Ten power rankings after Week 3: Most of East asserts itself, West — not so much
Michigan played another overmatched opponent, and while that doesn’t tell us much about where the Wolverines stand, what does is how the maize and blue dismantled the UConn Huskies, looking impressive in every way.
The Wolverines may have played three of the worst teams in the FBS, but the starting defense has yet to give up a single point, while the offense has moved the ball with ease in all three games. Thus far, Michigan looks like a complete team, and it’s now even more explosive with J.J. McCarthy leading the charge. McCarthy has now gone 30-for-34 in 2022 for 473 yards passing and four touchdowns overall. He’s completing 88.2% of his passes, and that number should actually be higher.
While the score might not be as impressive as Ohio State’s outing, remember: Michigan managed to get 101 players into this one, including seven quarterbacks — all of whom completed a pass (McCarthy, of course, completed more than one).
We’ll get a much better idea of what the Wolverines are defensively when they take on Maryland in Week 4, and offensively when Michigan faces Iowa in Iowa City in Week 5.
Nick Bromberg and Sam Cooper, Yahoo! Sports
Winners and Losers: Penn State named another threat to Michigan in East division
For the first time in a while, PSU has a running game. Freshman Nick Singleton is a big reason for that. Singleton needed just 10 carries to explode for 124 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-12 road victory over Auburn. Kaytron Allen also added 52 yards and two scores for the Nittany Lions, who totaled 245 yards on the ground in the win. Meanwhile, the attacking PSU defense forced four Auburn turnovers and were constantly pressuring the quarterback. The Big Ten East is loaded with Michigan and Ohio State, but PSU looks like a team that could have a say in that division race.
