The Wolverine Now

2014-09-21 Utah Game Report

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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first-half action — score a touchdown on offense. The Utes drove 67 yards in five plays for their first offensive TD, on a 28- yard dump-off from quarterback Travis Wilson (14-of-20, 172 yards, one TD) to uncovered wideout Dres Anderson. His unimpeded sprint to the end zone put Utah in charge, 20-10. The Wolverines' continued inability to sustain drives kept Utah in the driver's seat, placekicker Andy Phillips booming a 48-yard field goal into the wind and rain with 14:20 left in the game. The Utes led, 23-10, against a Michigan offensive crew that had yet to crack the red zone. When fifth-year senior quarterback Devin Gardner (14-of-26, 148 yards) fired his second interception, right on the num- bers of Utah middle linebacker Gionni Paul at the Michigan 47, the Utes' found the table set again. They didn't require much. This time, Phillips boomed a 50- yard field goal into the wind. At that point, Michigan pulled the plug on Gardner, inserting sophomore quar- terback Shane Morris (4-of-13, 42 yards, one interception). As the Ann Arbor skies opened up in increasingly heavy rain, the home team's offensive fortunes failed to improve. Morris got Michigan from its own 27 out near midfield, like Gardner had done numerous times in the game. But when Morris unleashed a high throw that flut- tered into the hands of Utah free safe- ty Tevin Carter, the Wolverines' chances washed away. So did the crowd, with lightning appear- ing in the area. Officials cleared the sta- dium, with 7:51 remaining on the clock. A weather delay of roughly two hours en- sued, The Big House thrust into a down- pour that fit the mood. When the game finally resumed, at 8:50 p.m., hopes for the miracle in the monsoon didn't last long. Phillips missed a 41-yard field goal attempt after four makes, but Morris fumbled the ball away on a return trip down the field. "It's obviously not what we wanted to do," noted junior center Jack Miller. "We need to execute better. We know that, for sure. We didn't get the job done. We need to correct things, especially the turnovers." Senior placekicker Matt Wile opened 26 10 TheWolverine.com Postgame Podcasts Click the icons to play or stop the audio Chris Balas and Doug Skene break down the results of yesterday's game Big Ten Network analyst and former Michigan safety Marcus Ray with John Borton

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