Michigan didn’t wait long to set the tone in Piscataway. After winning the toss and deferring, the Wolverines forced Rutgers to start the game under pressure, then turned that field position into the first touchdown of the afternoon.
Rutgers opened with AJ Surace and the offense, but Jakob Anderson’s punt pinned Michigan deep, inside its own 10. The Knights couldn’t cash in on the possession, and the drive stalled after Surace had little time to work. A roughing-the-passer call briefly helped Rutgers, but the series still ended with an intentional grounding penalty.
Michigan answered with a 10-play, 92-yard march that ended in the end zone when Tommy Carr hit JJ Buchanan in the corner for a 6-yard touchdown. Buchanan had to fight through defensive pass interference on the play, and the drive was sparked by a 44-yard catch-and-run from Salesi Moa that moved the ball to the goal line. Freshman cornerback Devonte Anderson missed the tackle on that play.
Rutgers got on the board on its next scoring chance. Dane Pizzaro drilled a 46-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3, giving the Knights their first points of the game. Surace came close to a touchdown on second down when he just missed Vernon Allen in the end zone.
The ground game was at least giving Rutgers something to work with early. Raymond had 25 yards on four carries, and the Knights were having more success than most teams do running against Michigan.
There was also a brief scare for Rutgers when KJ Duff was slow to get up after a pass interference call on a deep shot. He walked off under his own power and stayed in the game.
Michigan kept rolling into the second quarter. Jordan Marshall finished off a drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to stretch the lead to 14-3, with another Buchanan catch - this one for 30 yards - setting up the score.
For a Michigan offense that has struggled to throw the ball with two quarterbacks, the passing game was humming against Rutgers. Carr was 7-for-8 for 134 yards through two drives.
Before kickoff, Rutgers got a small boost when Duff was expected to play after warmups, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The Knights were already missing several players, with Kaj Sanders, Zahmir Dawud, Dylan Lonergan, Joey Kopec and Tyler Needham ruled out.
Kevin Levy and Duff were listed as game-time decisions. Michigan was without Kendrick Bell, Jo'Ziah Edmond, Braydon Alford, Micah Ka'apana, Julius Holly, Ace Hamilton and Andrew Sprague, while Dom Nichols, Enow Etta and John Henry Daley were game-time decisions.
In Other News...
Rutgers Let Michigan Hang Around And Paid For It Late
Rutgers had plenty of chances to tilt Saturdays game its way and never quite cashed in, which made the final stretch against Michigan feel especially costly. Missed field goals and a few key defensive stops left the Scarlet Knights in position to seize control, and there were bright spots on both sides of the ball, including a more active defense and a ground game that got real production from Antwan Raymond and Clay Thevenin.
AJ Suraces stat line was uneven, but he did connect on a touchdown strike, and the defense got encouraging work from JJ Conyers and Rondo Porter even as Michigan kept finding ways to stay alive. The frustration for Rutgers is that the effort was there, the game was there, and the result slipped away late, leaving the Scarlet Knights to regroup with Wisconsin coming next and the health of Dylan Lonergan and KJ Duff something worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Has A Third-Down Problem That Just Wont Go Away
Rutgers defense spent too much of Saturday chasing the sticks, and the result was another frustrating loss in a game that was there to be won. Michigan kept extending drives in a 28-21 victory, repeatedly finding answers on third down and putting the Scarlet Knights in long stretches of survival mode instead of control.
Greg Schiano acknowledged afterward that the issue has become a recurring one, even if he did not have an immediate explanation for why it keeps happening. Michigan quarterback Tommy Carr helped turn those extended possessions into points, guiding the decisive drive with his arm and legs as Rutgers was left to wonder how many more chances it can afford to give away in games like this. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Let Michigan's Freshman Take Over When It Mattered Most
Michigan left New Jersey with a 28-21 win over Rutgers, and the difference came from a freshman who kept getting more comfortable as the game tightened. Tommy Carr was sharp throughout, finishing 22 of 27 for 266 yards with a touchdown through the air and two more on the ground, while Michigans defense did enough despite missing two starting edge rushers.
Rutgers never found a second-half answer, and the Scarlet Knights were shut out after halftime as the game slipped away. AJ Surace could not complete a pass after the break, leaving Rutgers to watch Michigans young quarterback control the moments that mattered most and turn a close contest into a frustrating missed opportunity. [Read more 🡒]