Game balls from the Michigan football team's 40-34 victory Saturday against Ohio State.
DENARD ROBINSON (4): The junior quarterback was at his best and turned in his most balanced game of his career, throwing three touchdown passes and running for two more scores. It’s the third time in his career he’s accounted for five touchdowns. Robinson finished with 337 total yards (170 yards rushing, 167 passing) and for the first time in his career scored against Ohio State.
FITZGERALD TOUSSAINT (4): The sophomore running back eclipsed 1,000 yards for the season with a 120-yard game that included a 46-yard run. Toussaint and Robinson both finished the season with more than 1,000 yards. It’s first time Michigan had two players with more than 1,000 yards rushing since 1975, when Gordon Bell and Rob Lytle did it.
MICHIGAN DEFENSE (3): Michigan gave up 372 total yards and 34 points, but came up with big plays when it counted. Some examples: Middle linebacker Kenny Demens sacked Braxton Miller early in the fourth quarter for a 2-yard loss on the 4-yard line, forcing Ohio State to settle for a field goal when a touchdown would have given the Buckeyes the lead. Sophomore cornerback Cortney Avery had an interception and forced a fumble. Jordan Kovacs had a sack and another tackle for a loss.
BRAXTON MILLER (2): The freshman Ohio State quarterback came out strong, throwing a 54-yard touchdown pass on the first series of the game and temporarily quieting the Michigan Stadium crowd. He passed for 235 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Comments
scott
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 5:06 p.m.
Braxton Miller had some good stats, but his passing was so bad during that game I find it dumb to give him a game ball. My game balls would be for Denard, Molk, RR and Mattison (more for the season than this particular game though)
scott
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 5:07 p.m.
Left off Borges, that was by far his best called game ever, although Denard being a stud doesn't hurt...
NC Wolverine 20
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 2:38 p.m.
Game ball to Jordan Kovacs, who was named a semi-finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy (best player who began as walk-on) There is a link in the Mgoblue story to fan voting. Vote for Jordan! <a href="http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112211aaa.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112211aaa.html</a>
ted
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 3:04 a.m.
@ Rightmind............Excuse me Rightmind , but I speak for all Michigan Men. Why do you Borges and Hoke are so popular among us ?!! When Borges speaks up and says all the right things it gets our juices flowing. Being a Michigan Man a lot of times means these guys really turn us on. I have a wife just like all of you , but like all of you the coaches feelings about Michigan effect us so strongly that we often find ourselves turned on by these manly men. If you call yourself a Michigan Man, why are you afraid to accept this part of yourself ?
blUeMaize_N_SD
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 4:57 a.m.
Wouldn't even worry about him, "Righty" is just a bored buck fan reading everyone of our articles and putting his Ohio goggled spin on them all.
ohiowolverine
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 1:59 a.m.
I'm glad Michigan won today but everyone has to admit, our D sucked, no ifs ands or butts about it. Next year with Miller having another years experince the Suckeyes will blow us away. We knew he could run and no one was there to cover him. We made him look better than Neb. and Ill. Qb's what's up with that? Michigan doesn't deserve a BCS bowl, we showed that today.
rightmind250
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 1:29 a.m.
Four footballs? Does that mean he was perfect? You forgot to mention the 2 fumbles.
rightmind250
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 1:19 a.m.
Jim Knight do you consider yourself a sports writer or just some fluff writer for Brandon and Company? To say that defense deserves anything but condemnation is absurd. Yeah, Kovacs got a sack, he was also penalized for a late hit and got burned deep 5 or 6 times. What game were you watching? I know this is all about fluff and seeing how much you can sugar coat the game but come on. That defense could have given up 55 easily. Braxton missed on 3 wide open touchdown passes. Your beloved Mattison simply was outcoached by an Offensive coordinator that got fired for his ineptness. mattison and company got exposed big time today. Good for the buckeyes they have showed every team in the B10 the game plan for beating Michigan. Everybody wanted to name this goof coach of the year. Now you know why Baltimore got rid of him.
rocco
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 1:08 a.m.
Two stars for the vastly improved defense, largely due to lapses by the defensive backfield and special teams. If the OSU quarterback hit his open wide receiver down field near the end of game, it would have won the game. Way too many missed assignments in the secondary. We need: a tough hitting middle linebacker and some big and quick secondary players. They really played hard today for 60 minutes. So did OSU. The rivalry is back.
rightmind250
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 1:21 a.m.
Yeah, it weas another classic Rocco. Agreed the rivalry is back.
#58ontheroster
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : midnight
The fact that Miller overthrew some open receivers is irrelevant. With Bo we had a D coordinator named Jim Young. Jim told us that a good offense will stop itself 40% of the time. A bad offense will stop itself 60% of the time. Turnovers, penalties, dropped passes, MISSED PASSES, missed assignments, missed blocks all help to stop an offense. No defense can stop a team all of the time. As a matter of fact, a mistake free offense will beat even a great defense most of the time.
rightmind250
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 1:22 a.m.
Wow, you sound like a true Michigan man. Denial, denial , denial.
burton163
Sat, Nov 26, 2011 : 11:28 p.m.
With all due respect, mr. Knight, you miss the mark every time you hand out game balls. Michigan's defense didn't play especially well today..in fact we are fortunate that Miller doesn't throw the ball very well or this game would have had a different outcome. The offense, and Al Borges deserve game balls. The O-line gave the QB time ( I don't recall any sacks today), opened holes for Denard and Toussiant, and the offense answered every buckeye score. Borges played a game of chess with OSU's D-Coordinator and the result speaks for itself. A great season for UM and Hoke is a lock for Coach of the Year. Can't wait to see who we draw in our BCS Bowl game!!! GO BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MRunner73
Sat, Nov 26, 2011 : 11:24 p.m.
Braxton Miller gets 4 game balls. He kept the buckeyes in the game. I was amazed. Denard was better. Michigan could not have won without him. This was not an easy win but a classic win, a back and forth game. I am proud of the Wolverines for a fantastic season. A 10 win season is awesome.
blUeMaize_N_SD
Sat, Nov 26, 2011 : 11:33 p.m.
Here is a request for next year, no alumni calling the game. Geez Spielman is worse than Herbstreit. I would like unbiased opinions when coordinate comentating the games. If you don't think you can then pull yourself off, like UM did.
heartbreakM
Sat, Nov 26, 2011 : 10:56 p.m.
We got very lucky that Miller overthrew some of these passes or it would have been a much different outcome. The pass defense was shaky at best as their receivers were open the whole game. I think Michigan's defensive numbers look much better not because of our own performance but because of Ohio miscues. That being said, Michigan showed a lot of grit, a lot of execution, a lot of heart in winning today and that is more than any November in the last 3 years. Wonder if the new AZ coach recognized what he saw out there? ( more Michigan points scored than 3 previous Ohio games, first lead over Ohio in years, a QB who manages the game and burns clock, a well-coached team overall). That was a great first Ohio game for Hoke and hopefully indicates future good returns.
ted
Sat, Nov 26, 2011 : 10:48 p.m.
when Coach Borges talks, I really like what I hear. He really seems to get it.He says all the right things. A Michigan Man for sure. And I know I can speak for all the other Michigan Men on here by saying that it really, really turns me on.
rightmind250
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 1:25 a.m.
You just might end up in prison one day and then you will have to explain yourself.
rightmind250
Sun, Nov 27, 2011 : 1:24 a.m.
Ted, I am not sure I would go there bud.
7718
Sat, Nov 26, 2011 : 11:07 p.m.
Tmi