Eastern Michigan at Michigan football updates
Denard Robinson scored a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass in the first half against Eastern Michigan.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Fourth quarter Michigan 31, Eastern Michigan 3: Brendan Gibbons kicked a 21-yard field goal, his first of the season. Michigan drove 84 yards in 13 plays.
Third quarter
Michigan 28, Eastern Michigan 3: Denard Robinson hit Drew Dileo with a 19-yard touchdown pass as Michigan continued to pull away from the Eagles. Michigan went 75 yards in 11 plays. Michigan found its passing game on the drive as Robinson hit Jeremy Gallon for 18 yards early in the drive before find Dileo to end it. Robinson is 5-of-14 passing for 59 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Michigan has scored on four consecutive possessions.
Michigan 21, Eastern Michigan 3: Fitz Toussaint scored on a 1-yard run as Michigan opened second-half action with an 83-yard, 13-play drive. All 83 yards came on the ground.
Halftime notes
It's a ground game: Eastern has 29 yards passing; Michigan has 21. Robinson has 131 yards on 14 carries and Fitz Toussaint has 28 yards on six carries for the Wolverines. Vincent Smith had one carry and it was for his big gain of 38. Javonti Greene leads Eastern with 75 yards on 20 carries and EMU quarterback has run for 61 yards.
Second quarter
Michigan 14, Eastern Michigan 3: Denard Robinson ran up the middle for an 11-yard touchdown run. Robinson also had carries for 12, 12 and 3 yards in the six-play, 87-yard drive. Vincent Smith broke free for a 38-yard run on the third play of the drive.
Michigan 7, Eastern Michigan 3: Denard Robinson hit tight end Kevin Koger with a 9-yard touchdown pass, capping a 97-yard drive that started when Thomas Gordon intercepted a pass from Tyler Benz on the 3-yard line. Robinson had a 53-yard run on the first play of the drive.
Eastern Michigan 3, Michigan 0: Kody Fulkerson kicked a 21-yard field goal to start the second quarter. Eastern drove 20 yards in seven plays.
First quarter
First-quarter stats: EMU dominated the first quarter with 140 total yards, 108 more than Michigan. Eastern had the ball for 10 minutes, 35 seconds.
Goal-line stand: Eastern drove 72 yards and had its drive stalled at the Michigan 1-yard line when Jordan Kovacs and Thomas Gordon stopped EMU running back Javonti Greene on fourth down.
Fumble and an interception: Michigan safety Thomas Gordon recovered a fumble by Eastern running back Javonti Greene, ending a strong opening drive by the Eagles. Eastern drove 55 yards before the fumble gave Michigan the ball on its own 35-yard line. Seven plays later, Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson's pass was intercepted by Kinsman Thomas at the EMU 34-yard line.
Opening kick: Eastern opened the game with a penalty on the kickoff and started the game on its own 10-yard line.
Pregame
The Michigan football team can start the season 3-0 for the third consecutive season with a victory today against Washtenaw County neighbor Eastern Michigan.
Michigan is 9-0 against Eastern and is a 29-point favorite today. Eastern, also 2-0, hasn't had a 3-0 start since 1989.
Ready to go? Michigan linebacker Cam Gordon was dressed in warmups and looked prepared to play for the first time this season. Cornerback Troy Woolfolk warmed up with a cast on his right hand and his ankles appeared to be wrapped.
Not playing: Sophomore cornerback Terrence Talbott is not on the dressed list for Michigan.
We'll update this file throughout the game. In the meantime:
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Michigan football coach Brady Hoke and Eastern Michigan football coach Ron English, who both were assistants under Lloyd Carr at Michigan, talk before the game.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Comments
Hailmary
Sun, Sep 18, 2011 : 12:58 p.m.
It is my opinion that what ails this team will be fixed by coaching and good recruiting and that will take time. For now I don't set my expectations beyond what is realistic and I just enjoy the ride. The one thing that does bother me is, Why do our fans insist on giving our team the silent treatment with the exception of an occasional show of support. I believe that the fan support in places like Oregon and LSU make a difference as in, Light my Fire. Don't the Mich. fans realize that teams will play to the intensity of the crowd. Most 50,000 seat stadiums are louder than Mich. with a 110,000 plus fans. I could understand it years ago when Mich, dismantled most of their competition regulary but those are bygone days. The Mich. fans need to recognize that their support is sorely needed especially now and there are games ahead where fan support might just be the only hope Mich. has of winning.
Tru2Blu76
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 7:06 p.m.
Agreed, AZwolverine: Wolves are a 7-win team this year - maybe 8 if they get lucky in a bowl game. Well - at least Brady Hoke will end the season with more wins than losses, probably he'll be 54 -55, closing that 47-50 career stat he brought with him. The other thing - we're still early in the season. I can't believe we won't see more improvements: Denard's passing and the overall yards lost by the D are the obvious areas. I won't be discouraged - next year this team will be mostly seniors and that is a big factor, IMO.
azwolverine
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 6:49 p.m.
Yeah, still not a very good team. I believe over time that they will improve, but it may not be enough this year to have that 9 win season some fans have been anticipating. I see this as a 7-8 win team at this point...if they continue to generate turnovers and hold onto the ball. I'm disappointed that they never really got the running game going today, the defense couldn't stuff EMU, and they did not get to use Gardner (at least with 4 min left in 4th). On the bright side, though, Gibbons hit a field goal and UM will win to go 3-0. Hopefully today was just a let down after their big game last week and we won't see this continue against a much better SDSU team next week.
azwolverine
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 7:02 p.m.
Well, checking the boxscore after the game, I guess 360+ yards on the ground is pretty darn good, but I would just like to see it done more with the running backs than with DR having to go for 200 of it. In other words, I'd like to see UM be able to pound the rock, as I feel they may have to do at points in the B1G season.
Tru2Blu76
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 4:48 p.m.
With one quarter finished, it looks like Ron English is exposing all of Michigan's flaws. Brutal! If the Wolverines don't get it into gear right now, this'll be a long afternoon and may have consequences for Michigan's standing and reputation.
DonAZ
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 5:21 p.m.
Agree ... at near end of half Michigan is starting to take a degree of control. But your point is well made -- many, many flaws. And good teams with the endurance to run with Michigan will exploit those all day long.