Field Level Media
Nov 20, 2021
No. 6 Michigan scored on offense, defense and special teams in the third quarter alone to easily beat host Maryland 59-18 Saturday in College Park, Md.
Michigan's Michael Barrett threw a cross-field lateral to A.J. Henning to set up a 79-yard, kick-return touchdown that made the score 38-10 Wolverines with 4:38 left in the third period.
Each side scored a touchdown on offense before Maryland's Taulia Tagovailoa threw a pick-six that D.J. Turner returned 42 yards for a TD in the final minute of the period.
Turner's return put Michigan (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) ahead 52-18 after three quarters.
Michigan's Cade McNamara finished 21-for-28 passing for 259 yards and two touchdowns. His backup, J.J. McCarthy, went 5-for-5 for 58 yards and a touchdown and added a rushing score. Hassan Haskins ran for 78 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground.
Tagovailoa completed 19 of 33 passes for 178 yards, a touchdown and a pick, also adding a rushing touchdown for Maryland (5-6, 2-6).
Luke Schoonmaker got Michigan's party started with a 2-yard touchdown catch in the left flat with 7:09 left in the first quarter. Two drives later, Andrel Anthony's one-handed grab set up Haskins to walk in for a 1-yard score.
Trailing 14-3 in the second, Maryland had a punt blocked by Matt Torey. McCarthy quarterbacked the ensuing drive for Michigan and found Mike Sainristil, who made a highlight-reel, one-handed, 13-yard catch in the end zone. The Wolverines tack on a field goal for a 24-3 lead at intermission.
On Michigan's first drive of the second half, Maryland thought it had snagged an interception in the end zone, but a holding penalty was called on defensive back Nick Cross. Haskins scored his second 1-yarder on the next play.
Tagovailoa and running back Colby McDonald authored a belated response for Maryland with a 74-yard drive in just under four minutes, culminating in Tagovailoa's 7-yard touchdown to Carlos Carriere.
That was when Michigan returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, deflating whatever sparse confidence the Terrapins had begun to build.
Tagovailoa scored a 17-yard rushing touchdown and added the two-point conversion with his legs to make it 38-18 with 2:22 left in the third. But Michigan got the ball back, and McNamara hit Donovan Edwards, who sprinted past multiple defenders for a 77-yard TD.
Edwards finished with 10 receptions for 170 yards.
Turner's pick-six and McCarthy's 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter concluded the scoring deluge.
The win sets up Michigan to host Ohio State, also 10-1, next week for the first iteration of "The Game" since 2019, with both teams likely to be ranked in the top six of the College Football Playoff rankings.
--Field Level Media