COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The kickoff landed softly in the hands of Michael Barrett, the reserve linebacker for Michigan football who defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald rewarded with increased playing time in recent weeks. Now it was special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh’s turn to do the same.
A former high school quarterback — Barrett threw for 4,640 yards and 45 touchdowns in his native Georgia — he zipped a dart across the field to wide receiver A.J. Henning, who lurked alone on the weak side. Henning caught the ball with nothing but green in front of him and raced down the sideline for a kickoff return touchdown that all but sealed a comprehensive beating before the third quarter expired. It was the type of play coaches feel comfortable calling when they know their team is rolling.
Henning’s touchdown was among a handful of eye-popping scores that turned a one-sided game into a ruthless demolition and launched the Wolverines toward their eagerly anticipated showdown with Ohio State. Jim Harbaugh’s club bridged the third and fourth quarters with 28 points in the span of 5:58 to demoralize, destroy and disembowel Maryland, 59-18, in a game featuring touchdowns from Michigan’s offense, defense and special teams units.
Quarterback Cade McNamara completed 21 of 28 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns in one of his most efficient performances of the season. Running back Donovan Edwards emerged as a dynamic receiver (10 catches, 170 yards) in the absence of fellow tailback Blake Corum, who remained sidelined with a foot/ankle injury, and flashed his incredible open-field ability with a 77-yard score.
Cornerback DJ Turner twisted the knife with a 42-yard pick-six after a reckless decision by Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who finished with just 178 passing yards — well below his season average of 310.
So much of the discussion ahead of Saturday’s game probed Michigan’s ability to maintain focus with a week and change remaining before the showdown against Ohio State. Could this group of Wolverines muster enough concentration to stave off an opponent needing a win to become bowl eligible?
The popular trap-game lines of questioning emerged two weeks before games against Wisconsin, when the Wolverines first needed to dispose of Rutgers, and Michigan State, when they needed to defeat Northwestern. They had maintained focus and dismantled Indiana following the loss to Michigan State and then summoned the resolve required for a late-season trip to Penn State, where Harbaugh scored arguably the biggest win of his U-M career.
Saturday’s game at Maryland Stadium felt simultaneously the same and different from their other mental exams. The similarities were obvious: another overmatched opponent standing between Michigan and a rival. The differences were both subtle and overt: Maryland’s schematic tendencies overlapped with things the Wolverines will see from the Buckeyes plus the mountainous pressure of controlling their own destiny following Michigan State’s loss earlier in the day.
Yet what unfolded in College Park — at least for large portions of the first three quarters — was as much an implosion by the Terrapins, whose lack of discipline and penchant for self-inflicted wounds are weekly staples, as a dominant performance by Michigan.
It was the Maryland offense that got flagged for three penalties inside the U-M 10-yard line when the Terrapins could have pulled within seven early in the second quarter. It was Tagovailoa who overthrow several open receivers in the end zone. It was the Maryland coaching staff who asked tight end Corey Dyches to block edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson on a crucial fourth down that Hutchinson destroyed in the backfield. And it was defensive back Nick Cross whose holding penalty negated an end zone interception by teammate Jordan Mosley on a poor pass from McNamara. (The Wolverines scored one play later.)
That narrative was rewritten late in the third quarter when the offense ignited, the defense seethed and an already sparse crowd filed out to leave nothing but patches of maize and blue.
The demolition began when Maryland turned the ball over on downs during its first possession of the second half, opening the door for an eventual touchdown run by Hassan Haskins, who powered his way over 1,000 yards for the season and reached the end zone twice. Then Jay Harbaugh called the throwback pass that added yet another wrinkle for the Buckeyes to prepare for in the coming days. Edwards caught a beautiful lofted throw from McNamara down the left sideline and raced across the field for an electrifying 77-yard score. And then Turner, the most charismatic and confident of Michigan’s cornerbacks, baited Tagovailoa into a making a diagonal throw that made for an easy interception and dash into the end zone.
A workmanlike performance for the first three-and-a-half quarters exploded into a statement as a date with the Buckeyes looms.
Contact Michael Cohen at mcohen@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football destroys Maryland ahead of game vs. Ohio State