Utah 24, U-M 17: Wolverines sluggish in Harbaugh's debut
Wolverines look a little too much like last year's team, especially on offense, in season-opening loss in Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY – A new year, a new coach and but a few old mistakes.
Jim Harbaugh's Michigan debut got close to a competitive game midway through the fourth quarter. Then one crucial quarterback mistake tore it apart.
Sound familiar?
Just as happened with Devin Gardner for the previous 2 1/2 years, in a close game new quarterback Jake Rudock made a familiar mistake.
In the fourth quarter, with the Wolverines trailing, 17-10, Rudock was leading U-M on a potential game-tying drive when he took a chance on third and three, looking for freshman receiver Grant Perry.
He had already had troubles with Perry – two of his previous attempts to the freshman had been picked off -- but Perry gave up the inside, allowing Utah's Justin Thomas to rip Michigan's hopes out of the air.
Thomas grabbed Rudock's pass and glided 55 yards for a touchdown, turning a potential tie into a 24-10 lead and putting a foot on the Wolverines' neck.
Though the Wolverines rallied for a late touchdown and had an onside kick attempt, hinting that things might be different in the future, U-M's 24-17 loss at Rice-Eccles Stadium essentially ended with the pick-six, popping the Harbaugh- hype balloon.
That a quarterback ruined the chance at a win surely pained Harbaugh, but he didn't show it, putting little of the blame on Rudock. He repeatedly praised Thomas for the play and even blamed the prior play, when De'Veon Smith missed a gaping hole.
"There was a prior mistake (and) a dropped ball that we wouldn't have been in that third down and had to fit a throw in and try to keep the chains going," Harbaugh said. "There's a lot of things to coach from it."
A fifth-year senior, Rudock owned the interceptions, regardless of the cover provided by Harbaugh.
Especially the last one.
"I thought I could get it to him, the guy made a good play and jumped on it," said Rudock, who threw three interceptions in 43 attempts, striking after throwing just five at Iowa last year in 345 attempts. "Obviously, in hindsight I should have thrown it away. I thought I could get it in there, but obviously I was wrong. … We were just trying to get a first down. It was a bad decision."
There was also bad execution, on two deep passes to Jehu Chesson in the first half – open for touchdowns – and Rudock overthrew them.
It's a bad mix, bad decisions and bad execution. He finished 27-for-43 – in the top five for attempts in his career -- 279 yards and two touchdowns. But those three interceptions loomed large.
If everything else was clicking, Michigan (0-1) still could have had a shot.
But there was a sloppy first half where the final five drives all were 29 yards or less and no tailback had a run longer than five yards.
There was the defense that couldn't handle when Utah changed tempo and bent too much at the worst times, allowing Utah quarterback Travis Wilson to control the game without a touchdown pass. He threw for 208 yards, seven times to tailback Devontae Booker, who finished with 124 combined rushing and receiving yards.
He ran for a 14-yard score when the Blue Sea parted for him. And he dared to pick on hyped redshirt freshman Jabrill Peppers twice on a first-half touchdown drive, capitalizing each time. There was no fear for the senior.
Just like Rudock, only without the fatal mistakes.
U-M had too many problems to deserve to win a road opener against a solid, even if unspectacular team.
What impressed Harbaugh was the resiliency.
Jake Butt had eight catches for 93 yards and a spectacular 19-yard touchdown in traffic – when Rudock's risk paid off to an experienced player. Amara Darboh had 101 yards and a late touchdown, the drive after the pick-six, a spot where U-M would have folded in previous years.
"We were in the game in the fourth quarter until that last drive," U-M defensive tackle Chris Wormley said. "I don't think there was ever a point where we said, this is going to be 2014 again. There was no thought like that."
Though Harbaugh gave the impression of a quarterback competition over the past few weeks, nothing from Harbaugh, Rudock or Wormley hinted anything but this was and will be Rudock's job.
"He's a competitor, he's a leader, he's our quarterback, he knows how to get the job done, he knows how to win," Wormley said. "He knows how to win."
The circumstances looked familiar, but the mood was different.
Rudock will show whether Thursday was the aberration or a new normal.
Contact Mark Snyder: msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark__snyder.C ome back as beat writer Mark Snyder will answer your questions about U-M in a live chat at 10 a.m. Friday. Submit early questions here. And download our new Wolverines Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!
