It took a little time to get the offense going but once it did, it the SMU defense couldn’t keep up. Though there weren’t that many possessions in the second half for the maize and blue, the Michigan offense caught fire behind the growing Patterson-to-Peoples-Jones connection.
After throwing a pick in the red zone, Michigan scored on its remaining seven possessions. Patterson led the way with 237 yards on a 77% completion rate and three passing touchdowns, all to Donovan Peoples-Jones, who is really starting to come on as a go-to guy. The biggest question mark was the offensive line, which struggled at times. It also didn’t help having Karan Higdon sit this one out with a minor injury. Chris Evans carried the majority of the weight in his absence but it was Danny Woodhead Jr aka Tru Wilson who made a lot of noise.
The offense isn’t hitting on all cylinders but it’s starting to show its true potential. It still has some things to work out but that was expected. What wasn’t really expected was a bad SMU offense putting up a decent amount of points on Michigan’s defense. There were a couple coverage breakdowns and a running quarterback gashed them a couple times again (which could have been a direct result of Khaleke Hudson‘s targeting ejection). It was a bit of a shock to see but when you see the 13 penalties for 137 yards, it’s easier to understand how this game was as close as it was in the 2nd quarter.
Like pretty much every team besides Alabama, Michigan still has plenty of question marks as it heads into conference play next week. But one thing that isn’t a question mark is the quarterback position. The Wolverines have lacked a true playmaker at the position since Denard Robinson and Shea Patterson looks like he could be just that.
Check out the condensed highlights from the 2018 Michigan-SMU game as well as the full Shea Patterson highlights:
Photo Credit: Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog
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