The Wolverine Now

sept. 1, 2013 M By John Borton ichigan head coach Brady Hoke made it clear his team needed to focus on itself and its own improvement in the season opener against Central Michigan. Good thing, too, since the Chippewas themselves disappeared like a gambler's coinage at the Soaring Eagle Casino. The Wolverines cashed in against their Mid-American Conference foes in every 59 Centralized Agony Michigan Destroys Chippewas In The Opener, 59-9 9 way possible, rolling up 463 yards in a 59-9 devastation of the Chips. CMU head coach Dan Enos saw his team ride a wheel of misfortune to a meager 210 yards and an afternoon of misery. "I thought they played very well," Enos said. "On defense they were very aggressive, they tackled very well, they got real stubborn when we got the ball down in the red zone a couple of times, and they made big plays. "Their quarterback had a good day; he is a good player. To start off the game, [tailback] Zurlon Tipton broke his ankle, and then [quarterback] Cody Kater broke his clavicle, so it was not a real good start for the Chips." Just like that, they were finished. The Wolverines took almost no time at all to put the Chips into the wood chipper. The U-M defense held in four plays on CMU's first offensive series, then freshman defensive back Dymonte Thomas came storming off the edge on the punt attempt. The rookie smothered Richie Hogan's Redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner completed 10 of 15 passes for 162 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions, and he also carried seven times for 52 yards and two more scores. photo by lon horwedel punt, with U-M wideout Joe Reynolds scooping it up in stride and churning 29 yards into Michigan's south end zone. Just two minutes and four seconds into the game, the Wolverines led, 7-0, without touching the ball on offense. "I thought [special teams coach] Dan Ferrigno did a nice job," Hoke said. "He broke it down, and we thought we had an opportunity. The guys executed it. Did it give us some momentum? Yeah, because the whole team knew we were going to go after the first punt. When it works, they get excited." When U-M quarterback Devin Gardner (10-of-15, 162 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions) did get his hands on the ball, he didn't keep it long. His second throw of the afternoon sailed right into the hands of CMU's Jarret Chapman at the Michigan 6-yard line. Michigan's defense dug in to keep the Chippewas out of the end zone, but a 23-yard field goal made it 7-3 at the 9:39 mark. U-M's redshirt junior quarterback might have started the season with a swing and a miss, but the succeeding series underscored his home run capabilities. He took the Wolverines 77 yards in six plays, creating two huge gainers to finish it off. Gardner (seven carries, 52 yards, two TDs) scrambled to buy time before dumping off to senior wide receiver Drew Dileo for a 36-yard gain to the Central 22. On the very next play, Gardner found nobody

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