After surrendering a touchdown on the opening drive, Michigan football took advantage of short fields on two early drives to grab a commanding lead and shelled Maryland, 45-20, on Sunday, Nov. 22.
Bryson Kuzdzal rushed for 100 yards (on 20 carries) and three touchdowns at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland, becoming the third Wolverines running back to top the century mark in a game this season, as well as the third with three TDs in a game. Meanwhile, freshman Andrew Marsh had a fantastic touchdown catch early as the Wolverines kept their Big Ten title game and College Football Playoff hopes thriving.
Next up, U-M (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten) hosts rival Ohio State on Nov. 29 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
Bryce Underwood cooks
Down to Kuzdzal, the third-stringer at the beginning of the season, after injuries to Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall (who was in uniform and available to play Saturday), U-M offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey seemed content to let QB Bryce Underwood cook. The true freshman, aided by short fields on two of four drives, completed 14 of 19 passes in the first half — though he was 12-for-14 at one point — for 183 yards and two TDs, one to Andrew Marsh and another to Donaven McCulley. Underwood finished 16-for-23 for 215 yards before sitting for most of the fourth quarter.
Underwood’s clean work addressed a frequent problem this season: Third-down conversions. The Wolverines picked up first downs on eight of nine first-half tries in rolling up 244 yards over the first 30 minutes.
Another Dominic Zvada miss
The only third-down failure brought back another recurring problem, however: Dominic Zvada’s lack of reliability. A week after making just one of three field goal tries (though one miss was an improbable 60-yard try), Zvada missed his lone first-half try, pushing a 38-yarder wide right from the far hashmark in the second quarter.
Zvada, who also hit a game-winner last week, hit his second attempt Saturday, under much less pressure: He nailed a 46-yarder to give U-M a 32-point lead with 7:20 remaining.
Freshman-to-freshman on first drive
Marsh hauled in a stellar toss from Underwood to open the scoring for the Wolverines as they answered a first-drive TD by the Terps with a seven-play, 47-yard drive of their own.
On third-and-10 from the 12, Underwood caught the Maryland defense offsides and, with a free play, opted to loft it over Marsh’s front shoulder in the end zone. The true freshman cradled the pass with his right arm while fending off the defender with his left, scoring his third touchdown of the season.
Next up for the Wolverines
It’s finally here, as the game circled on the calendar in Ann Arbor and Columbus arrives in the last weekend of November: Ohio State at Michigan Stadium next Saturday (noon, Fox). The Wolverines have won four straight in the rivalry against Ryan Day and the Buckeyes, their longest streak against OSU since a four-gamer from 1988-91 (part of a six-game unbeaten streak). Michigan hasn’t won five straight against Ohio State since 1922-27, when the Wolverines took six straight by a combined score of 106-22 (with four shutouts).
The Buckeyes remained unbeaten this season with a 42-9 thumping of Ohio State, even without star wideouts Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. OSU led just 14-3 at the half but pulled away with four TDs in the second half, as running back Bo Jackson picked up 110 yards on 19 carries.
This story will be updated.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football runs over Maryland as Bryson Kuzdzal has 3 TDs
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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