View from the press box: No. 25 Michigan beats Eastern Michigan 45-17
Freshman quarterback Denard Robinson raced 36 yards in the fourth quarter to score his second touchdown of the day as No. 25 Michigan dominated the second half in a 45-17 victory against visiting Eastern Michigan.
Robinson also ran up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown with 3:06 to play in the third quarter. He had 60 yards rushing on his first three carries.
Martavious Odoms scored on a 13-yard run with 4:47 left in the third quarter as Michigan started to pull away from its Washtenaw County neighbor in the second half. Odoms' score finished a seven-play, 60-yard drive.
Carlos Brown scored his second touchdown of the day, a career-long 90-yard burst up the middle, as Michigan took a 24-17 lead into halftime.
Brown's touchdown was the third-longest touchdown run in Michigan history. Butch Woolfolk had a 92-yard run in 1979 and Tony Boles had a 91-yarder in 1989.
Brown scored earlier on a 9-yard run, his first touchdown of the season, to complete a 60-yard drive. He had 164 yards rushing in the first half.
Dwayne Priest rushed six times for 36 yards - the entire drive - and scored on a 5-yard run with 2:05 to play in the first half. Priest, a junior, had 74 yards rushing on 19 carries in the first half.
Michael Shaw scored for Michigan on a 5-yard run in the second quarter. Shaw's touchdown came a few minutes after Eastern Michigan quarterback Andy Schmitt scored on an 11-yard run to tie the game at 10-10.
Schmitt left the game with 7:48 to play, falling untouched to the turf at the 50-yard line. He fumbled and Brandon Graham of Michigan recovered the fumble. Schmitt was helped off the field.
Senior place-kicker Jason Olesnavage booted a 37-yard field goal with 10:46 to play in the first quarter to give Michigan a 3-0 lead against Eastern Michigan. The field goal capped a five-play, 32-yard drive.
Eastern kicker Joe Carithers kicked a 43-yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3 on the next series, which included a 15-yard pass interference penalty on Michigan.
11:40 a.m.: Seven of Tate Forcier's high school coaches are in town for today's game on a trip that was planned last spring. Scripps Ranch coach Sergio Diaz said he the rest of his traveling party met up with Forcier for a few minutes Friday plan to see him again tonight or Sunday morning before flying out.
During their visit Friday, Diaz said Forcier sent a wish-you-were-here text message to his former high school teammate, running back Brennan Clay. Clay is visiting Oklahoma this weekend, and Diaz said he should know in a few days whether Clay's commitment to the Sooners is solid or if the Wolverines still have a chance to land Rivals.com's No. 47 prospect.
11:30 a.m.: Players from both teams going through warm ups.
Need more sports? Admission is free for the Michigan volleyball team's match in Crisler Arena against Oregon State at 3:30 p.m. Michigan is 12-0.
Comments
Goblue
Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 9:28 p.m.
truebluefan I hear ya buddy. I just think we all need to be VERY happy with where we are in this transition. We have a young team. But yeah..Rich Rod is gonna get us there. He gets the recruits thats for sure. The guy knows what he's doing. Can you imagine how this team will compete two or three years from now?
truebluefan
Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 4:19 p.m.
Great display of rushing today with 380 yards. Lots of weapons and RR is using them nicely. It's great to see the other guys pick it up when Tate doesn't have his best game. Agree with uminks. I'm concerned about the DL play. We need a bigger body at NT. Martin is strong but he doesn't plug up the LOS between the guards. I would love to see Campbell get more PT and slide Martin over to a DT spot. Roh is playing great for a true freshman but he gets sealed off the edge too often on the off tackle runs. Linebackers need to help out on those plays but the help never seems to get there in time. Disappointed with the LB's. Disappointed with Cissoko today. Poor coverage. All in all it was a win and thankfully we have a good offense. I like the direction of the points scored: 31, 38, 45. Hopefully next week it's 50-something! I heard Molk's foot was injured. Hopefully it's a one-week thing and not a broken foot. We need him healthy for MSU.
uminks
Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 3:52 p.m.
I'm still very worried about UM defense entering conference play. MSU defense is man handling ND. Here's to the offense to continue to jell so we can outscore opponents!!!
Goblue
Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 3:24 p.m.
Michigan started off slow. Won the game like they were supposed to. Score would've looked worse throughout had it not been for the "blown" defensive pass interference call early in the game. It allowed Eastern to continue the drive and allowed them to score. They played tough though. English seems to be doing a good job with them.