On Saturday night, the Michigan Wolverines floored past their conference rivals, the Minnesota Gophers, as the Big 10 kicked off their first weekend of college football since the COVID-19 outbreak, joining the SEC, ACC, and Big 12. The win would prove to many that rookie QB starter Joe Milton could indeed take on the role of his predecessor, Shea Patterson, as well as provide Little Brown Jug bragging rights to commence the start of the Michigan football season.
The Gophers had not been able to come up with a home win against Michigan since 1977 and with the Wolverines having had 16 straight road wins vs. the Gophers, there was a lot to prove.
Minneapolis provided a bare crowd at TCF Bank Stadium, but it wasn’t because of the 30°F weather. Per restart regulations of Big 10 football, the stadium was required to have limited in-person attendance. Nevertheless, many rambunctious college students collected in spurts behind the gates to get a peek of the action while fans for both teams patiently sat behind screens at home.
The Wolverines-Gophers meeting would feature many firsts, including the first all-Black officiating crew in Big Ten and Power 5 history. The crew assembled on the field for a photo op before kickoff, led by the Big Ten’s first African American commissioner, Kevin Warren.
With many new changes, the mood was set.
Michigan would have first shot at the ball.
Although Milton was able to complete his first pass for a first down, things wouldn’t start so pretty for the Wolverines offense. After a penalty, an incomplete pass, and a QB sack, Michigan forfeited the ball, and the Gophers offense was hungry to retrieve it.
Minnesota sophomore running back, Preston Jelen would force a blocked punt at 4th down and return the ball for 17 yards to the Michigan 17.
The Gophers would capitalize on Jelen’s blocked punt and place the ball in the hands of senior tight end Ko Kieft for the touchdown, putting up the first touchdown of the game, less than three minutes into play.
It wouldn’t be long before the defending Little Brown Jug champs would answer with an explosive play of their own.
What time are we talking? 11 seconds!
In just the very next play, Milton would hand off to sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet, who appeared to almost emerge from underwater, breaking free from a huddle of defenders to make a jaw-dropping 70-yard run downfield!
If there was a rule book of how to start a conference game opener after a football drought, this was certainly it!
After months of pleas, Big Ten members sent a clear message that they weren’t taking the opportunity for a restart lightly.
Despite a missed field goal, Michigan senior defensive lineman Donovan Jeter would capitalize on a Minnesota fumble for a 15-yard fumble return giving Michigan a 14-7 lead.
Minnesota’s next drive would fall short of a touchdown but would allow them to add an extra three on the board as sophomore Brock Walker kicked from the 29, his career-high.
With just over 30 seconds left of play in the first quarter, Michigan would enroll junior linebacker Michael Barrett into play. Despite having gotten sick prior to play, not once, but twice, the veteran linebacker refused to come off the field. Barrett would not only implement incredible perseverance and leadership, but also put his team in the red zone as he returned the ball for 66 yards!
Senior tight end Ben Mason would go airborne for the end zone after receiving an 8-yard pass from Milton to give his team the extra TD to close out the quarter.
Minnesota would eat up the clock to start the 2nd quarter with 10 plays in a 5 ½ minute long drive that ultimately brought the Gophers back in the game with junior running back Mohamed Ibrahim coming up with the touchdown, decreasing Michigan’s lead, 21-17.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, Michigan would move unphased as they unleashed junior running back Hassan Haskins for back to back touchdowns in the last six minutes of the half. Michigan was all fired up and not looking to slow up on their competitors any time soon!
The half would leave Michigan Wolverines Head Coach Jim Harbaugh overall pleased thus far with his team’s performance. However, Gophers Head Coach, PJ Fleck, would need not only prayer for his still fairly new coordinators, but also drawing board if there was any hope for his team.
The Gophers would use Ibrahim for a touchdown in their opening drive, but this would indeed be their final score of the game.
The Michigan Wolverines didn’t intend to press the breaks any time soon.
Milton would come up with the quarterback keeper for a touchdown with five minutes left of play in the 3rdquarter.
Michigan, still not slowing up, would implement their most physical DB, Haskins in the final quarter. Once receiving the handoff from Milton, Haskins turned on his jets for the foot race downfield. He’d only been disadvantaged by his own clothing as he was brought down by the tug of his short tail, but not until reaching the 35.
As fate would have it, senior running Chris Evans would be the glue to the final touchdown play. Evans had been forced to sit out the prior season, working three jobs, including being a high school special teams coordinator. The veteran was sure to make the most of every touch in his season debut. As fate would have it, Evans would seal the Wolverine win along with the location of the Little Brown Jug, delivering the final score, 49-24.
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