Michigan 33, Florida 17: Sticking to the plan

Courtesy of my parents

There is something transcendent in a plan stuck to over time, a plan executed with precision and capable of weathering the vagaries of real-time action.

No, not the NFL's run-of-the-mill, hamfisted plan, where offenses are all the same as a matter of course. In the NFL, you're a pocket passer, whether you like it or not, and 3-4 defenses are exotic.

For Michigan, Saturday was not just a win — it was an assertion of its plan, its very way of doing things.

By the end of the offseason, national media folks' invocation of Michigan's personnel losses became somewhat of a tired joke. Sure, Maurice Hurst and Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich were not starters last year; Michigan fans suspected that that fact would prove to be a semantic point.

After four quarters of football, Michigan fans appear to be right.

The Michigan defense gave up just three points en route to a 33-17 drubbing, a game that was not as close as it looked in the box score.

At halftime, Michigan trailed 17-13, despite a 203-91 advantage in total yards and holding the Gators to 1.2 yards per carry on 13 attempts. The offense moved, but early struggles by the young wide receivers — including the first interception — and Wilton Speight's miscue on the second pick 6  found Michigan in the lone scenario in which they could lose that game.

Save for a 34-yard completion from Feleipe Franks to Josh Hammond on a perfect ball to beat Lavert Hill — 37 percent of UF's first-half offense — the Michigan defense contained the UF attack like lightning bugs in a bottle.

Even so, Michigan entered the danger zone after handing the Gators touchdowns on consecutive possessions, then had a punt blocked on the next.

Then, Michigan did this:

Florida might not have known it at the time, but its chances at victory evaporated in the Dallas air, obliterated like a power play by precisely timed blitz.

There's still a long season to go, and Michigan is not without problem spots. The offensive line, which most agreed, like the team in general, wouldn't be appreciably affected by personnel losses, gave up five sacks and a total of 11 tackles for loss. Of course, Florida's offensive problems notwithstanding, the Gators still have serious talent in the front seven — the Wolverines won't see that kind of talent again for a while.

As for Speight? Well, there's no doubt people will (and have) hit the internet to proclaim how they're DONE with him as the starter. But in the light of day, Speight was fine until the interceptions, and was just fine after. He wasn't excellent, and had some downfield misses ranging from "didn't give his guy a shot" to surrender-cobra-inducing (completely overshooting a wide open Kekoa Crawford for a sure touchdown). Unfortunately, that's a familiar song, but on the whole Speight did more than enough to win (the deep shot to Nick Eubanks, who is allegedly a tight end, was a nice one).

The first interception wasn't his fault, really, and the angst the second interception yielded was simply compounded by the first one — which, again, wasn't his fault.

With an offensive line still finding its way and a running game that did its job but wasn't exactly consistent (until the Gators wore down late), Speight finished 11 for 25 for 181 yards, two interceptions and a beautiful 46-yard score to freshman Tarik Black.

Perfect? Far from it. But consider the circumstances.

Speight started every game but one last year, only to get the John Beilein two-foul hook from Harbaugh. (John O'Korn would have played regardless, supposedly, but still.)

He could have wilted — no pun intended — but instead found his groove, hitting Sean McKeon and Grant Perry on key completions to open the second half.

I know it's a cliche, but if anything can't be questioned, it's Speight's toughness.

This is the same guy who threw an interception on his first pass in last year's season opener against Hawaii and went on to finish 10 for 13 for 145 yards and three touchdowns. He bounced back after getting clobbered early in the Colorado game. He played hurt late in the season.

Bouncing back from getting pulled by Harbaugh stands out as the biggest display of resilience in his career to date. Players of lesser stuff might have caved, checked out, sulked.

While he had help from his friends, Speight didn't do any of those things. That's a good sign for a Michigan team that will continue to go through growing pains this year.

As Florida's two-headed quarterback attack struggled in the face of the Michigan defense, I thought to myself: I'm glad Michigan isn't dealing with a freshman quarterback this year.

That counts for something. It will count for something, once the air chills and the leaves change color.

---

Michigan marched 75 yards in 10 plays to open the second half, a drive capped by a pair of runs from Karan Higdon, who had carried it just once in the first half (on a third and long, the play before the blocked punt).

When Chris Evans (22 carries, 78 yards) wasn't working, Michigan went to Ty Isaac (11 carries, 114 yards). Then, they went to Higdon.

Say what you will about the offensive line and Nolan Ulizio's struggles at right tackle, but Michigan appears to have a group of skill position players that by the end of the year will rank among the program's best in recent memory.

If I'm left with anything from this game, it's how remarkably accurate the hype and general perception of the team throughout the offseason showed through in this game.

Michigan has a diverse group of pass catchers and ball carriers? Check.

The future is here. (Source: Parents!)

The defense will once again be a TFL machine, hounding quarterbacks and offensive linemen into considering retiring into the woods and living out a Walden-esque existences for the rest of their days? Check.

The young secondary will now and then give up a big play or two? Check.

The right side of the offensive line will struggle? Unfortunately, check, although Michigan eventually found ways to lessen that deficiency's impact, either by running left or giving Ulizio help.

The game, surprisingly, offered no real surprises. The only way Florida could win was via Michigan mistakes. Those happened, but it didn't even matter.

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Let us take a moment to acknowledge the defense. Did it look any worse than last year's?

The scary thing is, the answer might be "not really."

Yes, things will get hairy if injuries happen. And if we're nitpicking, the secondary could be an issue...but against whom?

I never thought I'd say this, but Purdue's passing attack looked surprisingly competent (albeit against Louisville's less-than-enthusiastic defense, but still). Michigan gets them in West Lafayette to open the conference slate. Indiana's passing attack features some fearsome targets, but will it matter if Richard Lagow is continually snacking on the Memorial Stadium field turf?

Penn State? Well, I suppose Michigan can worry about that when it gets there.

But as we saw all of last season and against Florida on Saturday, a voracious front seven cures a lot of ills.

Linebackers who see in heat maps and defensive linemen who sustain themselves on tackles for loss like they're plates of chicken broccoli bake are a young defensive back's best friend. The thread below is a nice summary of the afternoon's defensive destruction.

Suppose Fred Johnson doesn't step on Franks's foot here. It's still a loss because who's blocking Rashan Gary (No. 3)? No one. pic.twitter.com/k0Tu09y66n

— David Wunderlich (@Year2) September 3, 2017

When it became evident that Florida's running game posed no threat, the scent of blood lingered in the water. Michigan's defense transformed into 11 sharks, looking for revenge.

Most expect Michigan's defensive stats to drop this year. They probably will.

The plan, however, remains in place. All the usual buzzwords, which sound ugly in regular conversation but make for great defense — violence, aggression, etc. — apply here.

You can solve a lot with that.

Forget about the breathlessly uttered words of praise, the encomiums following this defense like Link's Navi saying "Listen! This defense is still elite despite significant losses to the NFL!"

Look at the cold, hard numbers.

Michigan tallied 11 tackles for loss and six sacks, forced four fumbles (recovering three, including one by Noah Furbush for a touchdown) and held Florida to 0.4 yards per carry.

Zero point four. Based on that average, Florida would have needed to run the ball 25 times to gain the yardage needed for a first down.

A plane ride back to Gainesville doesn't seem so long when the first-down markers look like they're a mile away.

Miscellaneous Minutiae 

• Notwithstanding the brief targeting scare on the first play, Devin Bush looked exactly as advertised. Michigan has had shifty, undersized linebackers of varying quality before (Ian Gold, for example). But I don't know that Michigan has ever had a laser-guided missile of a linebacker like Bush. The targeting thing will continue to be an issue — more because of the ongoing confusion about what targeting actually is than it is about Bush's playing style in and of itself. The hope is that Michigan doesn't lose him in a game that matters because of it. Setting that aside, Bush had himself a day, tallying three tackles for loss, including two sacks. 

• Running back roulette. Chris Evans is slippery, but Michigan fans knew that. He also goes down a little too easily at times, but that's a tradeoff you take. With that said, Evans did show a little bit of seemingly newfound power on a few runs, including a relatively nondescript 4-yard carry early in the third quarter on which he drove for an extra yard or so after contact. Throw in Ty Isaac, who flashed the total package of speed, power and vision, and Karan Higdon's all-around toolkit, and it's safe to say the days of giving Chris Perry 51 carries in a game are in the rear view mirror. Sometimes, the committee approach is by virtue of a lack of skill — this is not an instance of that. 

• Wild Thing for Heisman. For years, Ohio State has seemingly trotted out kickers ranging from competent to excellent, while Michigan has, at best, topped out at decent. There's no need to revisit Michigan's dark kicking history, but it's safe to say Michigan finally has a legitimate weapon in Quinn Nordin. The leg is real. Yes, the two late misses were a bit of a bummer, but they only took a A+ performance down to an A-. It should also be noted that a college kicker missing a 52-yarder and having that classified as a "bummer" is something in and of itself. 

• As for the rest of the special teams, check back later on punter Will Hart, who punted twice and got one blocked. At punt returner, one still remembers Jabrill Peppers, expecting to see him out there but finding nothing, like a phantom limb. Donovan Peoples-Jones looks like he could be an asset there, however. He had a nice 18-yarder, displayed some quicks and agility, and didn't cough it up. In short: success. Also, Ambry Thomas forced a fumble on a UF kickoff return early after Michigan's touchdown opening the second half. 

• Although DPJ didn't get on the receiving stat sheet, the wideouts were about as expected, flashing tantalizing skill. There were a couple drops, but young guys plus a hypercharged environment against an SEC foe and the dropsies are easy to forgive. Tarik Black did his best Jehu Chesson impression on that deep ball. With Black taking the top off of defenses, Grant Perry picking up where he left off in his role, guys like McKeon and Nick Eubanks giving Speight big targets...covering this group is going to be a problem. As for Kekoa Crawford, you'd like to see him come down with that ball that became the first interception, but there's no real reason to think he won't be a plus contributor. He did draw a pass interference penalty on that deep ball during the first drive. The competition for catches will be fierce this season. 

• As mentioned above, the inexperienced secondary will have some issues. Fortunately for Michigan, Franks and Malik Zaire didn't exactly have much time to find receivers downfield. Hill looked the part, athletically, and that first big play completed on him was simply a perfectly thrown ball by Franks. Unsurprisingly, turning to look for the ball was a problem on one occasion (e.g. the 31-yard completion to Tyrie Cleveland in the second quarter). That can be corrected, and, in fact, was corrected, as Hill made a nice play later on a downfield shot. Aside from coverage, Hill had a fairly authoritative fill on the edge to bring down Lamical Perine to close the first quarter — a nice thing to see given Channing Stribling's issues in run support. It was just one play, but still nice to see. 

• Injuries, stay away. Mike McCray not getting the start was a bit of a surprise, but he seemed fine once he got in. David Long went down with a leg injury late in the first quarter, but did come back in shortly thereafter, contributing solid coverage on a deepish shot by Franks to start the second quarter. I'm not entirely sure if he played much after that — I don't remember seeing him on the field again after that aforementioned pass defense. Brandon Watson, meanwhile, did a good job of mostly not getting noticed. When he did get noticed, he made a textbook pass breakup on a throw downfield. There was the one shot completed over him late in the third, but that was a tremendous catch by Cleveland (and scramble by Zaire to find him downfield). All in all, the secondary didn't give up any huge plays. Tyree Kinnel and Josh Metellus, as far as I could tell, were excellent, both in run support and in coverage. 

• Young guys and old. While briefly filling in for McCray, Devin Gil assisted for a nice tackle early on. Carlo Kemp also had a nice shed and tackle near the sidelines late in the first quarter. Meanwhile, a substantially larger Lawrence Marshall recovered a Florida fumble — a nice thing to see for a guy who was highly touted but hasn't made much of an impact to date. Cincinnati will hopefully provide an opportunity for these guys to get some extended action. 

• When Maurice Hurst is busting up your tunnel screens, you're going to have a bad time. In a big game against a big-name foe, Hurst only further cemented his first-round draft status. 

Michigan 41, Florida 7: Never in doubt

Only until something comes to an end can you take a breath and really understand the things that have happened.

In 2015, Michigan doubled its 2014 win total. It did that with a collection of running backs that cobbled together might make a solid feature back, a low-upside quarterback beaten out in Iowa City, a defense that lost what might have been its best frontline player before the season (next year we'll know for sure).

It did it with a cloud of doubt lingering above, like carbon monoxide, surreptitious and deadly. Maybe Michigan could never be again. Maybe it was all just a feverish mirage, the Michigan we once knew.

But against No. 19 Florida in Orlando on Saturday, Michigan put on its most dominant bowl-game performance we've seen in some time. Forget about all the losses, of course, and even the relatively "recent" bowl wins -- 2008 against Florida, 2003 against Florida, the trio of wins from 1999-2001 against Arkansas, Alabama and Auburn -- were relatively close. Michigan beat Arkansas by 14, but you'd have to go back to the 42-7 Hall of Fame Bowl win against N.C. State on Jan. 1, 1994, for a bowl win as dominant as this one. You'd have to go back to the 1991 thumping of Ole Miss by Desmond Howard and Co. for a bowl win against an SEC team as dominant as this one.

I suppose that a season marked by "it's been a while since" statements should conclude so fittingly.

Sans two runs by Treon Harris and Kelvin Taylor for 22 and 21 yards, respectively, Michigan held the Gators to 75 yards rushing on 25 carries (3 YPC). Harris completed just eight of 21 passes for 146 yards, one interception into the breadbasket of Jarrod Wilson and no touchdown passes.

Coming into this one, it was obvious that UF's offense wouldn't be able to consistently challenge Michigan's injury-affected defense, even after the confidence-shakers that were the Indiana and Ohio State games.

Even so, the Wolverines exceeded even the already lofty expectations many fans had. Florida players compared Michigan's front to Alabama's, which, in this world of Harbaugh, isn't as hyperbolic as one might think. The Wolverines held UF to fewer points than the Crimson Tide, and Harris, while not great by any means, was slightly more effective against Alabama. Sure, UF had issues on the offensive line, to say the least, but to even approach a reasonable juxtaposition with an Alabama defense is an accomplishment in and of itself.

What can you say about this game? Like a movie with a 90-plus percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it's a masterpiece that doesn't need much exposition.

The performances, the script, the cinematography, the score (that's always good): all perfect.

This wasn't about the SEC and the Big Ten -- this was about one team simply being leagues ahead of another. Michigan was better in every facet of the game, and it wasn't even close.

It's one thing to feel that way after a home win against BYU, or a road win at Penn State, or even a what-could've-been loss against eventual Big Ten champion and playoff participant Michigan State. It's another to so seamlessly transition from the regular season to the second season and then thoroughly handle a team that was elite on one side of the ball, at least, in its own state.

Now, comes the hard part.

Before moving on, after Alabama and Clemson have played to conclude the season in earnest, the realization that some players won't be coming back will set in.

When Michigan recruited Sione Houma, for example, I had high hopes for him, just like I do every recruit. I know they all can't be starters, or even contributors, but you root for every one of them to succeed.

And for three years, Houma was a little-noticed piece of the team. It wasn't until this year that he became a serious contributor -- if Michigan had not gotten Harbaugh, perhaps he wouldn't have had this chance at all.

When all was said and done, Houma carried it 43 times this season for 184 yards and five touchdowns, including a majestic 27-yard romp against Michigan State. The fullback dive isn't just some ironic dinosaur -- it is intent, personified. This year, it was Houma and Joe Kerridge.

Going forward, it'll be someone else.

If there's anything to take from this season, it's the revisiting of old things: the fullback dive, the line stacked like a two-story peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a defensive line shuffling incessantly and without mercy.

Of course, Houma's not the only one. If anyone predicted Rudock's revival, they are a clairvoyant, because early returns were not promising.

But take Mark Donnal's recent surge on the hardwood, multiply it by several orders of magnitude and degrees of difficulty, and you have something like what Rudock accomplished this season.

As you probably know, Rudock became just the second quarterback in Michigan history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a single season. Fittingly, the first, John Navarre, was another guy who started somewhat unimpressively but rounded out into one of the best Michigan signal-callers on paper -- a Big Ten title to his name didn't hurt, either.

In fan lore, Rudock is a strange case. A grad transfer, we didn't really have that incubatory "getting to know you" phase, in which recruits become players become favorites. Even so, by his play alone and his demeanor on the field and after the game, assisted by Harbaugh's coaching, it's as if we saw a full career arc, accelerated. Early struggles, a light going on ... then?

Never in doubt.

---

Every final chapter requires an epilogue. This isn't the final chapter, but the first.

Michigan tallied its first 10-win season since 2011, and its ninth since Bo Schembechler coached his last season in 1989.

Something tells me double-digit win seasons will become the norm rather than something that happens, on average, about once every three years.

And this was in year 1, with somebody else's players, a supposed "stopgap" quarterback and an assemblage of skill players that didn't inspire confidence heading into the season.

But Jehu Chesson pulled his best 2006-Mario-Manningham-oh-wide-open impression against Florida, De'Veon Smith refuses to be tackled by defensive backs and the offensive line has transformed from severe liability to pretty good.

And most of these guys are back. Other than Rudock and Houma, Michigan loses Wilson, Desmond Morgan, Joe Bolden and James Ross, plus Royce-Jenkins Stone and, of course, Mario Ojemudia. Linebacker is a question mark, but Michigan returns a knockout defensive line, a talented secondary, and, you know, Jabrill Peppers, who can play everything from corner to long snapper (I mean, probably). Throw in a dash of talented young players and you're cooking once again, as Harbaugh continues to participate in the world's longest and most intense episode of football Chopped. 

The schedule next year is tough -- there'll be more than enough time to talk about that between now and as mentioned, the roster won't be without holes to start the year.

With that said, 2015 was an exercise in belief. Michigan might not make the playoffs next year -- really, who knows.

But whatever happens, there's no doubt that it'll have a chance. That's an assertion that can only emanate from one source: the very top.

Despite losing a nonconference game and two rivalry games -- both in excruciating fashion -- things are good.

This is only the beginning -- and what is more tantalizing, more captivating, more hopeful, than beginnings?

Elsewhere in the B1G: Badgers avenge 2012 loss, down No. 11 Florida 59-53

Fouad Egbaria (file photo)

With two matchups between top 5 teams going on elsewhere in America, this meeting between the Gators and Badgers didn't get as much attention as it should have. 

Despite being short-handed on account of a trio of suspensions, the Gators jumped out to an 7-2 lead thanks to Casey Prather and Kasey Hill. A couple of minutes later, a pair of Michael Frazier triples upped the UF lead to 13-4 early, as the Wisconsin offense was rudderless in the early stages. 

Wisconsin's excellent 3-point shooting from the St. John's game didn't carry over to his one; the Badgers started 0-of-5 from downtown.

Yet another triple from Frazier forced a Bo Ryan timeout. Down 16-4, the Badgers were in danger of getting run out of the gym. Sam Dekker stemmed the tide, hitting triples on consecutive possessions, the second in the secondary break facilitated by Traevon Jackson. Having cut the deficit to just six, the crowd, which had been eerily silent to that point, made sure it was heard. 

Although it's difficult to argue that the Badgers won't be a decidedly backcourt-oriented team this season, freshman forward Nigel Hayes put forth an encouraging opening 10 minutes or so, scoring six points on 3-of-4 shooting. 

UF got everything it wanted on the offensive end, as the Badgers couldn't figure out how to defend the ball screen. Wisconsin tightened up defensively as the half went along, allowing them to fight their way back into it as the game neared halftime. 

They fought so hard that they actually found themselves up, 29-26, following a 13-2 run at the end of the half.