The makings of a trap game were real.
Wedged between the electrifying atmosphere of a primetime, nationally televised game against Washington and the anticipation of hosting Rutgers to begin Big Ten pay next weekend was a sleepy noon kickoff against Northern Illinois, a 27-point underdog whose coach claimed to have intimate knowledge of Michigan football’s playbooks and whose quarterback stunned Ann Arbor as a member of Michigan State last season.
True enough, the chances of the Wolverines succumbing to the Huskies were slim even when framed through such a conspiratorial lens. But the opportunity for Northern Illinois to frustrate the Wolverines, to at least turn in the type of plucky performance capable of poking holes in the maize and blue armor was real. With Rocky Lombardi at quarterback and the nation’s third-leading rusher in the backfield in tailback Harrison Waylee, the Huskies might have proved an adequate foil.
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Then the game began.
Within minutes, Michigan initiated what amounted to a 60-minute bloodletting. After forcing Northern Illinois into a three and out on the game’s first possession, the Wolverines scored touchdowns on their first nine drives to blow the game open by halftime and send fans streaming toward the exits with 7:36 remaining in the third quarter. When it all ended, after running back Blake Corum gained 125 rushing yards and three scores, after quarterback Cade McNamara played only two quarters before getting the rest of the afternoon off, and after the U-M defense hogtied Waylee by allowing 2.8 yards per carry, the scoreboard felt cartoonish: No. 25 Michigan 63, Northern Illinois 10.
Passing game alive and well
The aftermath of thoroughly one-sided and thoroughly one-dimensional victories against Western Michigan and Washington left head coach Jim Harbaugh open to criticism about the viability of U-M’s offense over the course of a season. Could the Wolverines, who entered Saturday among the top five rushing teams in the country, really sustain a run-pass balance in which the latter only surfaced during leap years?
As if responding to those concerns — the only valid criticisms following two excellent performances — the Wolverines blended run and pass with aplomb against the sieve-like Northern Illinois defense. Just as he did in the opener, McNamara guided a well-oiled attack that ran more than it passed but proved ruthlessly effective when offensive coordinator Josh Gattis called for an occasional pass. McNamara completed 8 of 11 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown in two quarters of work before giving way to backup J.J. McCarthy.
Sprinkled among the slashing runs by Corum and fellow running back Hassan Haskins were several throws designed to add a vertical element to the Wolverines’ passing game, even when the passes fell incomplete. There were two deep shots to wide receiver Cornelius Johnson, one of which resulted in an 87-yard touchdown for the third-longest pass in school history. And tight end Erick All gained 23-yards on a seam pass that successfully probed the middle of the field for the first time this season.
With Big Ten play on the horizon next weekend, the Wolverines’ passing game started to shift into gear.
Lombardi’s return spoiled by smothering defense
Though Michigan’s players and coaches dedicated only a few words to questions about Lombardi during the week, their desire to humble a player responsible for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns in a shocking upset by the Spartans was clear. Any rematch with Lombardi, whether he was still at Michigan State or not, would be personal.
How different Saturday proved to be. Gone was last year’s barrage of deep passes that flummoxed Michigan cornerbacks Gemon Green and Vincent Gray, a leading exhibit of why defensive coordinator Don Brown was fire, and in its place was a series of checkdowns, quick outs and wildly inaccurate passes that reeked of uneasiness in the pocket.
Lombardi’s longest completion was 15 yards on a play-action bootleg during the Huskies’ lone scoring drive of the first three quarters. His completion percentage was an unsightly 50%, a far cry from McNamara’s 73% clip. And his largest gain of the day, a 45-yard scamper on a quarterback keeper in the fourth quarter, did little to undercut the blanketing of Michigan’s defense before the starters were pulled.
Equally oppressive was U-M’s run defense, which faced the challenge of defending a tailback with four consecutive 100-yard games dating to last season. The absence of a downfield threat from Lombardi allowed defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to use more base 3-4 defense than he did against Washington. A rotating cast in the front seven swarmed the football regardless of which players were on the field and limited Waylee to 34 yards on 12 carries.
A.J. Henning dazzles as punt returner
From the moment wide receiver Ronnie Bell was lost for the season with a knee injury, Harbaugh expressed his desire for fellow wideout A.J. Henning to step into to the punt return role. Henning, according to Harbaugh, had the ideal combination of speed and elusiveness to give the Wolverines an added jolt in the return game while also preserving the versatility of special teams ace Caden Kolesar, who served as Bell’s original replacement.
Henning need two weeks of practice before the coaches trusted him as the primary returner, and his debut Saturday flipped the field for the Wolverines on multiple occasions. In the first quarter, Henning’s 25-yard return brought the ball across midfield for McNamara to lead a simple scoring drive. In the third quarter, he ripped off 32 yards by slicing across midfield to set up yet another possession that began in NIU territory.
Henning’s average of 15 yards per return on five attempts should catch the attention of special teams coordinators around the Big Ten. Michigan found a legitimate weapon.
Contact Michael Cohen at mcohen@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football runs rampant over Northern Illinois, 63-10