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Posted on Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 5:54 p.m.

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

By Dave Birkett

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Michigan running back Carlos Brown races 90 yards for a first-half touchdown against Eastern Michigan. (Photo: Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com)

From 3 yards and a cloud of dust to 90 and a trail of vapor. Carlos Brown ran for a career-high 187 yards and two touchdowns Saturday and Michigan’s modern rushing attack had its best output in six years as the Wolverines survived a sleepy first half to beat upset-minded Eastern Michigan, 45-17.

Michigan amassed 380 yards in big-chunk fashion, with Brown ripping off a 90-yard first-half touchdown run - the third-longest in school history - and backup quarterback Denard Robinson scoring twice on three carries. The 25th-ranked Wolverines had 399 actual rushing yards, but lost 19 on two Tate Forcier sacks.

“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.

Comments

SHub'68

Sun, Sep 20, 2009 : 8:33 p.m.

Forcier looked slower than in the previous two games (before the rib-hit). If that rib-hit comes during the first series and knocks him out of the game, we are in big trouble. I really like Tate, but this offense needs Robinson. He is so electric with his feet that if he can become a modest passing threat, he'll light up the Big Ten. Denard's interceptions were because he threw about 10 yards over the wrong shoulder of the receiver. He has a live arm, but he needs a lot of work to learn the offense and become a QB. I have a bad feeling we are going to need him before the season is out.

pithesis95

Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 8:41 p.m.

Leach played well, I dont agree we missed Mouton much. Roh is a beast and will dominate in a year or two. But that secondary is kinda scary. Warren is ok. But man, why you gotta wait till the second half to show up in the last two games, i'm outta fingernails to chew.

tater

Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 7:03 p.m.

UMinks wrote: "I think we'll take IU at home. May be quite the battle in East Lansing." I think UM is superior to MSU and will handle them by about ten points. Today, MSU got to play a ND team whose QB they injured on a dirty hit, that was playing a letdown game because of all the energy they expended in the loss to UM last week, AND MSU STILL LOST! Forcier won't take a knee and sustain a dirty hit like Jimmah did, and UM won't be playing a letdown game after playing IU. And there is that little matter about all of the trash-talking MSU has done because of their brilliant one-game winning "streak" against UM. With the exception of the last four OSU games, UM is extremely good in revenge games. I am more concerned about them looking ahead to MSU and playing badly against IU than I am the MSU game.

truebluefan

Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 4:23 p.m.

Defense definitely needs to improve. Too many rushing yards given up. It's going to get a lot tougher in the B10 schedule. We need Campbell to step up and plug the LOS. Roh needs help on the end. Linebackers are not providing much run support. I really hope that this is just a hangover from ND but I don't think so. Michigan desperately needs a highly touted LB recruit this year.

uminks

Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 3:39 p.m.

Our defense needs to improve. I was looking for more of an WMU defensive performance. Oh well, at least the running game looked good. Tate looked a big rusty but at least he did not make any critical errors. I think we'll take IU at home. May be quite the battle in East Lansing. Who will prevail UM offense or spraties defense? If we do keep winning this will be the first conference title we are in contention for lead by the offense!

Kubrick66

Sat, Sep 19, 2009 : 3:39 p.m.

Scare? I wasn't scared. Defensive hangover from last week. Offense was humming in the first half just didn't get many possessions. Again Robinson makes halftime adjustment and they pitch a second half shutout. Scheme was vanilla today, players lacked motivation and they still won by four TD's. GO BLUE!