Instant replay: NIU dismantled at Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Michigan scored a touchdown on its first nine drives Saturday, cruising to a 63-10 win over NIU.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

The NIU defense is beyond struggling the last two games

It was the second straight game in which the defense has allowed at least 50 points after a 50-43 loss to Wyoming last week. It’s the first time since 1995 that the Huskies have allowed 50 or more points in a game – 55-19 to Cincinnati, 58-20 to Florida.

Michigan, which had elected to not really throw the ball this year, had a big game through the air with 233 yards, most in the first half. That includes the third-longest pass in team history, from Cade McNamara to Cornelius Johnson.

The Wolverines finished with four pass plays of more than 15 yards and 11 run plays of more than 10 yards. They finished with 606 yards of total offense.

The loss avoided being NIU’s worst of the modern era. The Huskies lost 73-7 at Kansas State in 1998.

For one drive, the NIU run game worked

The Huskies couldn’t get much done on offense, but on their second drive of the game, they went 72 yards on 10 plays for a field goal, cutting the Michigan lead to 7-3.

Most of that came from Harrison Waylee, who was used sparingly after the first half and finished with 12 carries for 34 yards. Rocky Lombardi led the way with seven carries for 72 yards.

Facing a fourth-and-2 from the 3-yard line on the end of the drive, the team elected to kick the field goal instead of going for the conversion on fourth down.

Mostly though, the offense struggled

The Huskies followed the scoring drive with two drives stung by penalties.

With Michigan up 14-3, NIU started with a run by Tyrice Richie snuffed out at the line, then a false start to back them up more, ending up punting on fourth-and-13.

Then Michigan scored again to go up 21-3, and NIU started with a 6-yard run by Jay Ducker, but Messiah Travis was called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the run. NIU actually ran for 16 yards on the drive but couldn’t get a first down.

After Michigan scored again, the rout was on.

Michigan showed off their Neil Armstrong as much as their George Patton

In his weekly press conference, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said some people get the job done by air, like Neil Armstrong, and others on the ground, like George Patton.

After throwing for 260 total yards in their first two games, the Wolverines opened up the pass game for almost that amount in a half – 191 in the first half.

The Wolverines were loaded with solid individual performances. McNamara was 8 for 11 for 191 yards, and Johnson had 117 receiving yards. No other Wolverine receiver went over 30 yards.

Blake Corum had 125 rushing yards on 13 carries with two scores, with Donovan Edwards (8-86-2) and Hassan Haskins (9-56-2) doing damage as well.

NIU gets offense going late

NIU picked up its first touchdown of the game against the Michigan backups in the fourth quarter. Down 63-3, the Huskies went 68 yards, 45 of them on a run by Lombardi.

The drive was extended when NIU went to punt, but Michigan was called for having two players wearing No. 1 on the field. The 5-yard flag gave the Huskies a new set of downs.

Four plays later, Lombardi found Cole Tucker for a 9-yard touchdown pass.

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