Michigan football quarterback change, TE injury mars 28-18 victory over Arkansas State
Michigan football coaches vowed to get back to the roots as a run-first program, after the Wolverines suffered their first regular-season loss in three years.
At least that part happened. Yes, Arkansas State is an inferior opponent, but after two weeks of a struggling rushing attack, Saturday's ground performance was welcomed as the No. 16 Wolverines (2-1) ran more than 40 times and topped 300 yards on the ground in a 28-18 victory at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
After running for 75 yards total in its first two first halves of games, U-M rushed for 60 yards on its opening drive Saturday when Kalel Mullings plowed to the end zone for a career-long 30-yard touchdown. He finished with a career-high 153 rushing yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns.
"I watched him last year, averaged six yards a carry last year," head coach Sherrone Moore said postgame. "Doesn’t surprise me he’s running the way he is, just needed the opportunity. He’s handled it very well. ... I mean 153 yards, averaged 10 yards a carry, the guy is just a workhorse, but Donovan (Edwards) is no slouch … proud of both those guys."
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Bottled up for weeks, Edwards set season highs with 17 rushes for 82 yards and a touchdown.
The passing game, however, was brutal.
The biggest issue was turnovers, but a close second was the injury to star tight end Colston Loveland, who left the game after the first play of the third quarter. And starting receiver Tyler Morris missed the game with an undisclosed injury.
U-M preached about the importance of ball control after turning it over four times through two games, yet Warren threw three interceptions to Arkansas State, one in each of the first three quarters, which took away from the positive vibes of the rushing game.
Warren finished 11-for-14 passing for 121 yards and three interceptions before he was benched in favor of Alex Orji late in the third quarter. Orji completed two of four pass attempts for 12 yards and a 9-yard touchdown dump-off.
"We've got to stay balanced and do the things we need to to make sure we're balanced in all phases," Moore said. "Got to take care of the football No. 1, then be able to run the football like we have been, that made me happy."
The defense, meanwhile, did its job as it suffocated the Red Wolves' rushing attack early and held them to a loss of 6 yards on 11 attempts in the first half and just 58 rushing yards on the day (46 of which came in the fourth).
The schedule ramps up as Big Ten play begins for U-M next Saturday with a fourth consecutive home game, this time vs. Big Ten newcomer USC in Ann Arbor (3:30 p.m., CBS).
"I feel as though this is a big, defining game (coming up) for us," receiver Fredrick Moore said. "But at the same time, they're going to have to line up the same as we do. So I feel as though as long as we play our game, execute and have fun, it's going to be a win regardless."
Michigan rushing game finds rhythm
Michigan got the ball after a missed Arkansas State field goal, then marched on an 11-play, 76-yard drive that featured nine rushes and took more than 6½ minutes off the clock, before Mullings' 30-yard touchdown.
After a Warren pick, on the third drive of the game, U-M chose to get Edwards in a rhythm. The senior through two games had just three carries of 6 yards or more, but had five such carries vs. the Red Wolves, including a 7-yard touchdown to go up 14-3 with 6:41 left in the first half.
The next drive was nearly all Mullings, who after a 7-yard carry and a 13-yard reception by Moore, broke off his second 30-yard rush of the game to get to the Red Wolves' 5. He then scored nearly untouched up the middle on the next play. At the half, U-M had 25 carries for 176 yards — a 7.04-yard average per carry — and three scores.
"Always good to be plus 300 in the run game," guard Josh Priebe said. "Such a great feeling to get that going and impose our will, just physically dominate. Really good momentum going into conference play, just super encouraged by how we played up front today."
Arkansas State entered allowing 199 rushing yards per game but U-M's improved rushing was notable. It put Andrew Gentry in as a sixth offensive lineman on a handful of plays, while wideouts such as C.J. Charleston were key in blocking situations, like on Mullings' second 30-yard scamper.
The second half, however, was largely a different story. A hold on the first drive of the quarter forced a U-M punt, then the interception on the next marked the end of Warren's day.
Orji came in, and U-M got back to its work on the ground with eight consecutive runs, capped by a 38-yard rumble from Mullings to set up first-and-goal.
"This offseason, I just really tried to take what I did last year and expand upon it," Mullings said. "Always trying to look for ways to get better, that's really all I did ... it was a good feeling, a great feeling."
On the next play, Orji found Hogan Hansen on a 9-yard play-action pass on a fake reverse for the freshman's first career score.
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Defense rebounds
The first drive looked concerning. After allowing Arkansas State to convert a third-and-9, U-M gave a free first down with a penalty on third-and-long, then allowed another conversion on third-and-8. A missed field goal kept the game scoreless.
Coordinator Wink Martindale's unit seemed to find its groove. After forcing a three-and-out on the second drive, U-M held Arkansas State to a field goal after the interception set the Red Wolves in the red zone.
"They did exactly what they were coached to do, they didn't press to make plays, they just made them," Sherrone Moore said. "Coverage was sticky, run lanes were shut down, everything was gapped out. They made a couple plays here and there but (the defense) did a really good job of playing our style of ball."
Michigan forced two more three-and-outs in a row before Arkansas State put together a 10-play, 58-yard drive in the final moments of the first half, but again the kick was missed — off an upright — to keep it 21-3 at the break.
U-M held Arkansas State quarterbacks Jaylon Raynor and Timmy McClain to a combined 26-for-44 passing for 222 yards and two touchdowns, with the Red Wolves piling up yards on their final two drives with the result decided.
Plenty to clean up
There were many mistakes for the Wolverines to clean up.
The passing game, which looked decent at times, completely fell apart late. Warren was intercepted for the third consecutive contest on the second drive of the game, which kept Arkansas State in the game.
It appeared to happen because of a miscommunication on a handoff with Edwards on a play-action, who was then out of position on a block and let a free rusher come off the left side. Warren forced a throw off his back foot fading away and was easily picked off by Charles Willekes (Rockford, former Michigan State walk-on and brother of Kenny Willekes).
The same mix-up happened between Warren and Edwards on the following drive, which resulted in a sack.
"I messed up his first pick, told him that multiple times," Edwards said. "Basically just all on me. I should have just went backside, took my man. They brought cow blitz, rolled the corner and both came free ... that's nothing on Dave."
When U-M was up 21-3 and looking to separate itself before the break, Warren threw what looked like another baffling pick, though it appeared an edge rusher knocked his elbow to alter the throw a bit.
But the worst may have been the third, when on first-and-10, he forced a pass on a crossing route to Semaj Morgan, which was overthrown and easily intercepted, leading to boos from the crowd.
There were a handful of head-scratching penalties, like a personal foul on Quinten Johnson which kept Arkansas State's first drive alive, as well as an illegal formation that negated a 20-yard pass to Loveland, and an illegal hands to the face on Derrick Moore on what appeared to be a fourth-down stop in the third quarter.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X @RealTonyGarcia. He's a co-host on "Hail Yes!" your go-to Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football beats Arkansas State 28-18, but QB troubles remain
