Michigan survives first-half scare, dominates Eastern Michigan to start 3-0

“Some of our fast guys did a great job of hitting it north and south and pulled away from defenders and showed some speed, which was nice to see,” Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. “We weren’t particularly sharp throwing the ball, so it was good thing we could run it.” Playing an undermanned Mid-American Conference opponent a week after upsetting then No. 18-Notre Dame, Michigan leaned heavily on Brown after No. 1 back Brandon Minor left the game three carries in with a nagging ankle injury. Brown broke a 30-yard run on Michigan’s first offensive snap, scored from 9 yards out later in the first quarter, and ran 90 yards almost untouched through the heart of the Eastern defense midway through the second. He finished the first half with eight carries for 163 yards - a gaudy 20.4-yard average. Before Saturday, Brown’s career day was a 132-yard effort against Minnesota in 2007. He had just 122 yards rushing all of last year. “Carlos runs hard,” offensive guard Steve Schilling said. “He’s so fast that he gets in the open field and he can go the distance like he did today. It was great to see.” Along with Brown, Robinson (60 yards) and Mike Shaw (nine carries, 53 yards) played key roles out of the backfield for the Wolverines, whose big day came behind a patchwork offensive line. Starting guard David Moosman did not play with a shoulder injury, and center David Molk injured his foot in the first half. Rodriguez said he fears Molk has a broken bone. Forcier also left the game briefly in the third quarter with bruised ribs. He finished 7-of-13 passing for 68 yards. “The biggest concern is David Molk,” Rodriguez said. “He said his foot was bothering him, but now it may be more serious. ... That would be a big loss.” Michigan also played Saturday without linebacker Jonas Mouton, who was suspended by the Big Ten earlier in the week for punching a Notre Dame player on the field. Kevin Leach started in place of Mouton at weak-side linebacker, and the Wolverines defense seemed to miss Mouton’s presence early. Eastern running back Dwayne Priest pounded Michigan for 74 first-half rushing yards, and the Eagles got touchdowns from Priest and quarterback Andy Schmitt to keep within a touchdown at halftime, 24-17. But the Wolverines forced three-and-outs on Eastern’s first two second-half possessions and Robinson and Martavious Odoms scored on 13-yard runs to put the game out of reach. “I really felt like our defense made a statement the second half,” defensive end Craig Roh said. “Even though we did let up some plays the first half, we came back and were very good the second half.” Priest finished with 91 yards rushing on 27 carries for EMU, which fell to 0-3 and awaits word on the health of Schmitt, who left the game with a leg injury in the second half. Michigan can claim its first perfect September since 2006 with a win over Indiana in its Big Ten opener next week. Coming off last year’s 3-9 season and a tumultuous summer, Rodriguez said he’s pleased with what he's seen so far. “I wish we were healthier, I know that,” Rodriguez said. “But I think we couldn’t be any better than 3-0. That’s a good thing for some confidence. But we got a lot of tough battles ahead and we got to play better.” Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.