The Sports Xchange
Sep 10, 2016
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Wilton Speight threw for four touchdown passes to lead No. 5 Michigan to a 51-14 victory over Central Florida in front of 109,295 fans at Michigan Stadium on Saturday.
Central Florida actually outrushed Michigan by a margin of 275-119, but Michigan still won convincingly thanks in large part to Speight, the junior who backed up a good debut as the starter last week against Hawaii by completing 25 of his 37 passes for 312 yards.
Michigan senior tight end Jake Butt and senior wideout Amara Darboh each caught two touchdown passes to help Michigan improve to 2-0.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 21-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Speight to Butt with 8:48 remaining in the first quarter, a 2-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Khalid Hill with 3:29 left and a 55-yard touchdown pass from Speight to Darboh with 1:55 to go in the first quarter.
Michigan opened up a 31-0 lead with 11:30 remaining in the second quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Speight to Butt before Central Florida finally got on the board with 11:10 left in the second quarter,
Freshman Adrian Killins of the Knights got through the line on a jet sweep and outsprinted the defense down the sideline for an 87-yard touchdown.
Dontravious Wilson of Central Florida (1-1) scored on a 34-yard run with 8:03 left in the third quarter to make it 44-14, but Speight then hit Darboh for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 10:24 remaining in the game to give the Wolverines a 51-14 lead.
Darboh finished with 111 yards on five receptions for Michigan.
NOTES: The two touchdown receptions for tight end Jake Butt marked the first time in his career that he had multiple touchdown receptions in a game. ... The 87-yard touchdown run by freshman Adrian Killins not only was the first touchdown allowed by the Michigan defense this season, but it tied a Central Florida record for longest touchdown run in school history. Former NFL running back Kevin Smith also had an 87-yard touchdown run for Central Florida in 2007. ... Michigan's special teams came up with three blocked kicks in the first half. Sophomore Tyree Kinnel blocked a punt on Central Florida's first possession of the game and senior Chris Wormley blocked a 50-yard goal attempt by Central Florida sophomore kicker Matthew Wright with 6:20 left in the first quarter. Wormley then tipped a 49-yard field goal attempt by Wright with 2:38 to go in the second quarter to force a miss. ... Michigan was a perfect 8-for-8 on red-zone opportunities this year until there was 14:17 left in the first half, when a drive stalled at the Central Florida 6-yard line. Senior kicker Kenny Allen came on and make a 24-yard field goal. It was Allen's first field-goal attempt of the season.