Michigan thumps Delaware State, sets record for most total offense
Michigan could have gone without Graham on Saturday, and for that matter just about every other starter. Leading rushers Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown did not play a snap, and starting quarterback Tate Forcier lasted all of one series, but Michigan still manhandled the FCS bottom-feeding Hornets in record-setting fashion, 63-6. The Wolverines, using mostly second- and third-stringers, scored on their first six offensive possessions and amassed a school-record 727 yards of offense to win a “buy” game against maybe the worst team to visit Michigan Stadium in the modern era of college football. Delaware State earned $550,000 for its appearance, and it chose to forfeit a previously scheduled game against conference rival North Carolina A&T to collect the payday. “Our guys are pretty intelligent,” Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. “They know this is a game they probably should win. I’ve said many times, I-A teams should beat I-AA teams, and that doesn’t always happen. You still have to play and know that they’re going to be fired up to play you.” Denard Robinson saw his most extensive action of the season at quarterback, replacing Forcier on the second series and playing most of the first half. Rodriguez said he planned to use Forcier, who suffered a concussion in last week’s loss to Iowa, for “a few series” Saturday, but changed his mind once Michigan got up 21-0 midway through the first quarter. Robinson accounted for three touchdowns, including the first two of his career passing, and freshman running back Vincent Smith ran for a personal-best 166 yards. Mike Cox also set a career high with 11 carries for 82 yards, and five Wolverines scored their first career touchdowns: Cox, Smith, Kelvin Grady, Martell Webb and Graham, who recovered a blocked punt for a score midway through the first quarter. “It felt good,” Graham said. “I ain’t scored since my junior year in high school.” Michigan (5-2) led 49-3 at halftime, averaged more than a first down (10.1 yards) every time it ran an offensive play and scored its most points since a 63-13 win over Minnesota in 1992. Delaware State (1-5) had just 57 yards of offense in the first half against Michigan’s first-team defense, and averaged 1 yard per play in the first quarter. The Hornets’ first non-penalty first down came with 1:23 left in the opening half. “Except for moments in the third quarter, they dominated us,” Delaware State coach Al Lavan said. “I was not shocked, but I was surprised at how much the domination was.” Robinson finished 3-of-4 passing for 85 yards and ran for another 54 yards on six carries. Forcier completed his only two pass attempts for 39 yards before leaving, and Nick Sheridan, David Cone and Jack Kennedy also played quarterback for Michigan. Rodriguez said it was important to get a look at second- and third-stringers to see who might be able to contribute in the final month of the season. Michigan should be healthy when it returns to Big Ten play next week against Penn State. Brown missed his second straight game with post-concussion symptoms and Minor has been nursing a sore ankle all year, but both practiced this week and Minor was available to play. Center David Molk also could play next week after missing his fourth straight game Saturday with a broken foot. “Because we’ve had so many close games, at least four that have gone down to the wire, we have not been able to get our twos on either side a lot of quality reps or a lot of games reps,” Rodriguez said. “Today they played more than our starters, and that is critical. We have to develop more depth with five more games to go.” Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
Jessica Knowlton
Mon, Oct 19, 2009 : 11:48 a.m.
It is an abomination that this game should even count. Maybe next year you can play Pioneer and feel good about yourselves, too.
heartbreakM
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 8:08 p.m.
This game is a big 'SO WHAT'. Who cares? Obviously some of your fanatics who only throw names at those of us who may dare criticize holy Michigan. THis game should NOT have been scheduled, period end. It is an embarrassment to competition--how in the world is Delaware State supposed to look its athletes in the eyes and say that they are supported, when they are forced to take a forfeit loss to have played that game? And basically, Michigan will not play any good team, outside of Notre Dame, in a home and home. They have admitted as such, and why they are afraid of good competition, I don't know. If they are sick of losing these games, what does that say about the team and the quality of the wins we actually do get? Does anyone really believe that crushing Delaware State makes us a top 50 team? And by the way, that App State and next year's Mass games should not have been scheduled either, IMO. Div I schools should play other Div I schools--Florida, LSU, and other such schools notwithstanding. USC sure does not have a problem in doing so. And what does Bill Martin and RRod see? Is Eastern and Western not enough creampuff competition in one year? Is the almighty dollar trumping improvement by competition? Obviously that's what it says. And you apologists who claim that everybody does it--well, you are deceiving yourselves. Yesterday was a day of shame for that football program, not for the victory and for the players, but for the reasons behind it. Yes, of course it was good to see people who work hard get some PT. But, all the talking heads could say were excuses. Let's see PSU hand it to Michigan next week, and we can all go back to wondering why we have no running game. Or perhaps, we can give up our B10 membership and become the national champs in Div II (not Div IAA--they probably would be afraid of App State).
GoblueinNE_PA
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 7:42 p.m.
Look, I don't like playing 1-AA schools either, but just about everyone does it. Iowa played Northern Iowa, MSU played Montana State, PSU played Eastern Ill., etc. I think it's practically mandatory in the SEC. Even our "good friends" in Columbus routinely schedule Youngstown State. It happens. Time to move along and look toward PSU.
saginaw
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 5:04 p.m.
I know that I am a moron -- so you don't have to say it again. Last week I said that we should rest Tate and that Delaware State is a glorified scrimmage. Well, we did rest Tate. I do NOT like playing really crummy teams -- as it throws off your focus. This game does not prepare UM to play Penn State. But it is good to rest your star QB. Mich State played a terrible Montana State team to open the season -- that threw the Spartans off. They thought that they were so good and it set them up to lose to CMU. Michigan must re-focus to play a real football game!
GoblueBeatOSU
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 5:02 p.m.
Ed Vielmetti "Northern Michigan Wildcats crushed the hapless Tiffin Dragons 62-0"...they did!!!...Northern has a chance at having a winning record this year. To bad they lost to Hillsdale this weekend. D21 Grand Valley State has been playing very good ball for their division but they also dropped a game to Hillsdale. I think overall Grand Valley would stay in the game longer vs. U of M than Northern. The end result would be the same. It would be fun to see Northern or Grand Valley play U of M. For the kids at those two schools it would be a great experience. $550,000 would do a lot to help both those schools as they are hurting with the state funding cuts. $550,000 would mean a lot to little Northern. Wouldn't it be nice for U of M, built on the back of MI taxpayers, to return some of the MI taxpayers investment by giving these smaller in state schools the extra $550,000. Those schools could use that money to help the kids that can't get into U of M, but who are more likely to stay in the State of Michigan.
D21
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 10:05 a.m.
Northern Michigan vs UM, not a bad idea but I'd prefer Grand Valley State Lakers as UM's future opponent. I also am still laughing at some of the haughty posts that aren't truthful as many fans told me they enjoyed seeing UM beat DSU and would like to see it happen again on a daily basis in the near future. One patsy per season as a dessert course is needed (let the scrubs play as part of their reward) after so many main entrees.
Fred&Barney
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 9:13 a.m.
What a joke, we now have to buy victories, how pathetic. Who's next Huron High?
Mazenbluehome
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 8:24 a.m.
To all those who struggle with this match-up/victory and say this was essentially an unfair "W", need to realize one thing--life isn't fair. Now UofM is even being ridiculed for bringing in and paying an out of state school instead of one from Michigan (see GobueBeatOSU). It's a no-win situation for UofM.
GoblueBeatOSU
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 7:45 a.m.
So Delaware State got paid $550,000 to play this game against U of M. How come people don't seem to mind that a half million dollars went to an out of state school when Universities in Michigan are having budget problems? Was there no other school in the State of Michigan that U of M could have scored 63 points on? Seems to me U of M could have played Wayne State, or even little Northern Michigan University and kept that half million dollars in the state of Michigan. Or do people in the state of Michigan have so much money, and so many jobs, that it was important to send this money Michigan taxpayer money out of state?
A2Dave
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 5:59 a.m.
Birkett: To your comment that record books should only hold 1-A records; does that mean we can expunge the Appalachian State loss. You are over doing this; Florida and any number of other 1-A teams were forced to schedule FCS teams because of the late expansion. Florida ended up with a 70+ point score, as I recall. Michigan caught this school with an comparably young team and a backup QB starting, and so what would have been lopsided became a rout. So it goes, but lay of RR for scheduling it. It could have been a lot worse (ask LC about ASU). Just move on.
Righteous_Warrior5901
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 4:31 a.m.
Before people start bashing RR for scheduling this team, you need to know that facts. I watched this game and the commentators explained how coach didn't want to have an open date or bye week. He then proceed to schedule a quality opponent. So he contacted MAC teams & Mountain West teams etc. all of whom wanted no parts of coming to Michigan to play on a open date week. One of the few teams that was actually willing to play an away game this week was Del. St. I don't like playing these types of teams either. Nothing good can come from it, but once that whistle blows to signal the start of the game, you try to defeat the team lined up across from you. No matter who they may be. It's funny that people say this was the worst opponent that M has played when they beat teams by triple digets many, many years ago!
umblue1
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 : 3:54 a.m.
Hey MICHIGAN PROF. (Although you most likely are only pretending to be one) Why don't you keep your bs in the classroom where you only have to fool the teenage students that you represent anything other than your lack of understanding of the real world. If you want to make womanly complaints about michigan, you should teach somewhere else,. This isn't politics or some social injustice for you to make a phoney narcissistic grandstand. This is a sport. Another realworld concept a professor will most likely be unable to grasp. Don't think for a second your bs will make a difference in Michigan football. The michigan football world won't put up with it. So go protest something else. Fraud.
raddes
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 5:54 p.m.
I'm sorry this win doesn't rank up there with the big boys but I'm perplexed with some of our "so-called fans." Obviously UM is in a no win situation with this game, but after Appy St., the lesson is never take anything for granted. For all of you getting emotional over this, why don't you petition Jim Delaney on having every b10 team schedule each other, errr, oh yeah, not enough home games so a loss of money! All college football is or represents is money. Get over it (and for some of you--yourselves) and let's move on to PSU. And yes, THEY can win out and have a good chance to do so if, again, they don't beat themselves. If the #7 team in the nation loses to an unranked 1-5 squad today, why can't UM win out? What are some of you people watching? There are NO dominant teams in the b10. And until Iowa does what UM, OSU, PSU, and ILL couldn't do in the Rose Bowl against USC, don't try to change my mind. Go Blue!
superman7515
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 5:02 p.m.
Embarrassing and humiliating for both teams. In terms of how this appears in the eyes of people nationwide, Michigan would have been better off taking a bye week then scheduling DSU. And as for DSU taking the $550k bribe to drop a conference game, not only did they deserve humiliation, but their conference should drop them. This sets a dangerous precedent across college football. Isn't it supposed to be more about coaching the boys to be better men than winning? How about this message. A chance at a big payday is more important than your required obligations. Sounds like something you learn on a street corner. Maybe that's why Michigan plays at the Big House. Not one single administrator, coach, teacher, fan, alum, or anyone associated with either team has anything to be proud of here. A complete and total lack of class and pride.
Macabre Sunset
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 4:49 p.m.
So, what was the point? They get more competition in a spirited practice. Ought to put an asterisk next to that yardage record, because the opponent didn't exactly belong in the Big House. At least in 1981, or whenever that was, Slippery Rock played Shippensburg State here, not the Wolverines.
1998pa
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 4:39 p.m.
Theo, can we PLEASE exchange email addresses? I'd love to bet you hundreds - nay, thousands - of dollars on the rest of michigan's season. i don't need any points. we can bet straight-up that michigan will absolutely not win the rest of its games, despite their humiliation of a div 1-AA school. strike that...an AWFUL 1-AA school. if you're game, we can even make the bet public so that everyone knows how much i won. thanks pal.
michigan_prof
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 4:23 p.m.
I am sure that Richard Rodriguez will have no problem finding a long list of impoverished schools that are willing to engage in an embarrassing spectacle in order to obtain the funds to keep their athletic program going. As a University of Michigan faculty member, I am ashamed that our football coach, encouraged by the University president, thinks that this is an example of sportsmanship on the part of a far wealthier institution.
azwolverine
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 4:15 p.m.
We certainly have flaws, especially on defense, but the "joke" of the Big Ten? To who, you? That just shows ignorance on your part. Give me some objective facts on the field, or even other prominent media members who have stated this view to support your assertion...oh, that's right. You can't. Again, it's your own ignorant view.
jeremy
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 3:53 p.m.
todays game was a joke though it was good to see the 5th yr seniors get in the game and to see some of the young guys play more.....shame on the fans who bought tickets and didnt show up...techincally it was a sell out but it was sad that there were alot of empty seats
sandokan
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 3:46 p.m.
WOW!!You guys beet nobody today and already think about wining the rest of the games.Don't you realize that you are the joke of the BIG TEN. HA HA HA HA!!!!!
srock
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 3:21 p.m.
Dave - I think you have realized by now Michigan is only 5-2, though 63 points may be enough for two games....Not that Michigan SHOULD be 7-0, but only 8 points away from a perfect season. Amazing with 70+% of the team as freshman / sophmores. I believe UM will take care of Purdue and Illinois and I can see at least one win between Penn State, Wiscy and OSU... we'll see....but all is coming together well. Go Blue!
ohiowolverine
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 3:16 p.m.
living only 40 miles north of columbus, I will finally have a week without hearing OSU bragging about how good they are. I can handle the week of crying. There isn't any reason the Wolverines can't win the rest of our home games. GO BLUE!!!
D21
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 2:52 p.m.
Wooooo, nice seeing many Wolverines getting in the game...HAIL TO BOILERMAKERS FOR DESTROYING THE BUCKEYES...GO BLUE!
1bit
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 2:50 p.m.
Michigan has a good shot at winning the rest of its home games this year.