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If I were really lazy, I’d just copy and paste last week’s Michigan win column and change “Maryland” to “Northwestern.” Alas, laziness is not allowed at The Student Section.
The Wolverines tossed their third straight shutout Saturday afternoon against previously unbeaten and No. 13 Northwestern, 38-0, which is what makes the story a little different from the others.
Since losing to Utah, the Wolverines have outscored their opponents 188-14, and 97-0 since the last time they gave up a score, to UNLV in the second half of what was already a blowout.
First, let’s dispense with Northwestern.
The Wildcats were eviscerated from the opening bell, when Michigan’s Jehu Chesson ran back the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, already giving the shell-shocked Wildcats more points for the opponent than the previous week when they shut out Minnesota.
Both teams came in as the top two in scoring defense in the nation. Only one acted like it. Northwestern will survive this, though. The Wildcats are a disciplined club that will work through this disappointment and continue to contend for the Big Ten West title.
This game, however, showed their flaws. They were easily pushed around by Michigan and unable to gain composure when being hit in the mouth.
Michigan, however — bear with me here — looks like the best team in the Big Ten.
Common sense dictated that Michigan would be better under Jim Harbaugh and his staff. I don’t know how many people figured it’d happen at this type of warp speed.
Nor is “best team in the Big Ten” some sort of homer hyperbole.
The Wolverines are astoundingly fast and technique-sound on defense. Emotionally, they’re seemingly always engaged in the game. And they hit. Oh, they hit. And they play through the closing bell. Most teams up by huge margins just play out the clock and don’t get too concerned if the other team scores. Not Michigan. That’s how you get shutouts.
It’s the offense, however, where the biggest changes can be seen. The offensive line is just mindbogglingly more physical than it’s been since Jake Long was anchoring the left side.
Some of it has to be the line knowing where the quarterback is going to be and being able to block to that knowledge, versus the dual-threat style Michigan had employed since Lloyd Carr exited the program.
Still, the coaching staff continues to put Jake Rudock in good positions, giving him easy, short check-down throws, a far cry from the recent Wolverine staffs that seemed to rely on dynamic quarterback play every time a pass play was called.
The quick turnaround has re-invigorated Michigan’s fan base as well, with the thunderous chant of “de-fense!” raining down from a sellout crowd that seemingly didn’t have an empty seat in spite of the score.
Teams evolve over the course of seasons. Some get better, some get worse. Some struggle to find their way all year long. At this moment, Michigan … the team that could barely get butts in seats as part of fabricated attendance counts last season … is the best in the conference.
Yes, that’s a conference which includes defending champion Ohio State and top-five Michigan State. Again, things change over time, but this is where we are right now.
Speaking of the Spartans, they visit Ann Arbor next week.
There will be hitting. Oh, there will be hitting.
