Michigan survives scare at Maryland in penultimate regular-season game, grabs program win No. 1,000

The Michigan Wolverines moved to 11-0 on the season and became the first NCAA team to grab its 1,000th win in program history on Saturday afternoon at Maryland in a 31-24 victory. It was the second game in a row without head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was serving the second game of a Big Ten-imposed three-game suspension.

Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Sherrone Moore was the acting head coach on Saturday.

Michigan jumped out to a 23-3 lead in the first half but lost momentum amid several self-inflicted mistakes throughout the afternoon. Though when it was needed late, the defense stepped up and secured a victory.

Here’s the recap of Saturday’s events in College Park.

First quarter

Maryland won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving Michigan the ball first on offense. The Wolverines went three-and-out on their first possession with wide receiver Cornelius Johnson coming up just short of the first-down marker, setting up a punt for fourth-and-1. Tommy Doman booted the ball away, returned by Maryland to its own 26-yard line with 12:50 to go. The Terrapins got on the board first on an 11-play, 57-yard drive that ended in a 35-yard field goal from Jack Howes. Maryland led 3-0 at the 6:29 mark of the first quarter.

Michigan responded with a nine-play, 65-yard drive of its own that was capped off by Blake Corum’s 19th touchdown of the season, this time from two yards out. After James Turner’s extra point, U-M moved ahead 7-3 with 2:19 to go. Less than 20 seconds later, Michigan LB Michael Barrett sacked Taulia Tagavailoa, forcing a fumble that was recovered by EDGE Derrick Moore, a Maryland native, and returned for a touchdown. After Turner’s second extra point in 19 seconds, U-M led 14-3 at the two-minute mark. Four plays later, the Wolverines forced another three-and-out on defense before linebacker Christian Boivin blocked a punt that wound up out of the back of the end zone. The result of the play was a safety that extended Michigan’s lead to 16-3 by the end of the first quarter.

Michigan 16, Maryland 3

Second quarter

The Wolverines took nearly half the quarter’s worth of clock off the board in another scoring drive that went 64 yards in 16 plays, capped off by Corum’s second touchdown of the day, this time from one yard out. The extra point put Michigan up 23-3 with 7:59 to go in the half. The Terrapins answered with a long scoring drive of their own, going 75 yards in 14 plays and getting a touchdown from the one-inch line on fourth-and-goal from running back Billy Edwards Jr. After the extra point, Michigan’s lead was trimmed to 23-10 with 1:59 left in the quarter.

Michigan was driving for points at the end of the half and went 68 yards in 12 plays, but quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw an interception in the end zone that was returned 11 yards by the Maryland defense. After a quick kneel-down, the clock hit zero and sent the game to halftime.

Michigan 23, Maryland 10

Third quarter

Maryland received the opening kickoff of the half and took over on its own 22-yard line. From there, it moved the ball 78 yards down the field in nine plays — aided by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty by Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham — to score another touchdown and inch closer to U-M. After the fourth-and-1 rushing score and extra point, Michigan’s lead was trimmed to 23-17 with 10:23 to go in the third quarter. The Wolverines answered with a three-and-out on offense, punting back to the Terrapins with 8:28 on the clock and the ball at the Maryland 24-yard line.

On the following drive, graduate defensive back Mike Sainristil picked off Tagavailoa at midfield, giving the Wolverines the ball back at the Michigan 49-yard line with 7:33 left in the quarter. Michigan took advantage of the turnover, going 51 yards in eight plays to extend its lead to 29-17 after a 13-yard rush from freshman wideout Semaj Morgan. U-M elected to go for two points and failed, leaving the score at 29-17 with 4:04 left in the quarter.

Maryland refused to yield, though. On the next drive, the Terrapins went 84 yards on nine plays, aided by a bomb from Tagavailoa to Kaden Prather. After originally being called a touchdown, it was overturned. Two plays later, Maryland’s Edwards scored his third touchdown of the day from a yard out to narrow the U-M lead to 29-24 with 16 seconds left in the quarter.

Michigan 29, Maryland 24

Fourth quarter

The Michigan offense was off the field after five plays on its next drive, punting to Maryland, who returned it to its own 33-yard line with 12:05 to go in the game. The U-M defense stood tall, grabbing a sack on third down to force a punt to midfield, where the Wolverines would take over with 8:37 to go. Unfortunately, they would punt right back to Maryland after a quick three-and-out headlined by a misfire from McCarthy to Cornelius Johnson down the field. Maryland took back over at its own 10-yard line with 7:05 to go.

U-M’s defense stood up again on the next drive with Sainristil grabbing his second interception of the day on third-and-18, giving Michigan the ball back at the 39-yard line with 5:32 to play. The Wolverines couldn’t get any offense going and punted back to Maryland with a fortuitous bounce downing the ball at the Terps’ 1-yard line with 4:10 to play.

Two plays later, Michigan was able to add two more points on the second safety of the day, this time due to Tagavailoa getting called for an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone. That development would push U-M’s lead to 31-24 with 3:37 to go.

Michigan received the ball at its own 47-yard line after the kick. The Wolverines were able to convert a fourth-and-1, and they eventually iced the contest with a few kneel downs.

FINAL: Michigan 31, Maryland 24

Michigan at Maryland final box score, statistics