Michigan's Defense Gets Thrashed, But Offense Gets the Job Done

Michigan traveled to Cincinnati for the 2nd year in a row to face the Bearcats. Their defense looked completely lost at times and they did everything in their power to ensure a Bearcat victory (including three roughing the passer penalties). Luckily, Michigan's offense was just good enough to overcome this poor defensive performance and pull out a 26-14 victory. Cincinnati managed nearly 400 yards of offense on the day including 104 yards rushing and nearly 300 yards passing. Michigan was incapable of stopping either facet of Cincinnati's offense. While our defense did a lot of bending, it did very little breaking as they only allowed 2 TDs and 3 of 12 3rd down conversions.

When the D finally caught the Bearcats, they smacked them in the mouth.

Michigan's offense was average at best, but they got the job done. They gained 142 yards on the ground and 157 through the air. HB Vincent Smith was the biggest weapon as he gained 85 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries. Michigan's RBs were beat up during the game as the top 3 guys were knocked out @ 1 point forcing Michigan to go 5 deep @ HB. Luckily, everyone is healthy after some ice baths and ready to make the trip to Tallahassee next week. Hopefully both the offense and defense will play better against the Seminoles as they'll have to if Michigan has any hope of a victory.

Vincent Smith and the offense played just good enough to win.

Game Statistics
Category	Michigan	Cincinnati
Score	26	14
First Downs	13	19
Total Offense	299	397
Rushes-YDS-TD	29-142-3	31-104-1
COMP-ATT-TD	12-21-0	25-34-1
Passing YDS	157	293
Sacked	1	3
3rd Down Conv	3-9	3-12
4th Down Conv	0-0	1-4
2pt Conv	0-0	0-0
Redzone-TD-FG	4-2-2	6-2-0
Turnovers	1	2
Fumbles-Lost	0-0	1-1
Intercepted	1	1
PR Yds	5	22
KR Yds	73	144
Total Yards	377	563
Punts-Average	4-45	1-40
Penalties-YDS	4-55	2-20
T.O.P.	14:23	13:47