Wilton Speight (shown here during the 2016 spring game) led Michigan to a 63-3 win over Hawaii Saturday. Damien Dennis/The Pit
With all the hype centered on Michigan football, Wilton Speight’s first start as quarterback didn’t fully start as planned.
The margin of victory is the largest by the school since 1975. You could say, perhaps, that Michigan lived up to the hype.
The Michigan defense held Hawaii to -17 yards in the first half and newly named starter Speight threw two touchdown passes. After the game Speight was asked about the interception.
“Obviously, wasn’t the start I was imagining,” he said.
Entering into the 2nd quarter, the Don Brown defense was flying to the ball and not letting the Warriors offense get any momentum. Speight and the Wolverines didn’t waste any time extending the lead to 21-0. Speight would go 2-for-2 on the drive that saw him throw his third TD of the half to Amara Darboh.
Michigan extended its lead to 28-0 when Delano Hill intercepted Ikaika Woosley for a 27-yard pick-six. After the Michigan touchdown, the Rainbow Warriors were still unable to gain a first down against them.
Michigan’s offense came back onto the field after the Hawaii punt and a star may have been born in the Big House. Very methodical on this drive, Michigan ran the ball up the gut and outside the tackles. True-freshman Chris Evans would score his first touchdown of the season off a 28-yard rush to add to the Michigan lead, 35-0.
Hawaii got the ball with 6:07 remaining in the first and they moved to the hurry-up offense to try and change the pace. The Rainbow Warriors would get their 1st first down of the half with five minutes to go in the quarter.
Woosley would connect to his wide receiver Kemp and Collie on this drive. They would fight their way through a 1 and 25 at the Michigan 30 and a Michigan penalty on 3rd and goal would extend the Rainbow Warriors drive. With just 10 seconds left in the half, Woosley would stay in the pocket as the Wolverines rushed; he threw the ball away out of bounds. After much deliberation by the officials, it was ruled that Woosley was still in the pocket when he threw the ball away and no receivers were in the area.
Due to the penalty happening in the last minute and the penalty would require a :10 runoff, the half was declared over. The Wolverines would head into halftime with a 35-0 lead.
At the half, the Speight would be 9-for-12 with 3 touchdown passes while Evans would have 69 yards rushing on 7 carries.
Entering into the third quarter, the Michigan remained on the gas and Evans would officially make a name for himself as a future playmaker for the Wolverines. Evans blasted his way to the endzone a 43-yard run and would extend the Wolverines lead 42-0.
The aggressive Michigan defense would add to the rout when Channing Stribling intercepted Dru Brown and take it to the house for a 51-yard pick-six. This would be the second pick-six for the Wolverines since the 1999 Citrus Bowl.
Hawaii would attempt to make a charge down the field but the defense stopped them on 4th-and-1. The Michigan offense would not disappoint the Michigan fans as they would do a balanced attack that led to a 4-yard reception from John O’Korn to Khalid Hill. Michigan led Hawaii 49-0.
As the fourth quarter started, the Rainbow Warriors would move the ball down the field and try to score something on the vaunting Michigan defense. Rigoberto Sanchez made a 55-yard field goal to spoil the shutout by Michigan.
Michigan would add another touchdown towards the end of the fourth quarter when Karan Higdon added a touchdown of his own from inside the red zone.
While the game ended and showed the difference between a top tier school versus a team that is working hard towards building its program back up, you can see the difference. Yes, the Michigan defense didn’t allow Hawaii to get a first down until 5 minutes to go in the second quarter and ended the game only allowing 232 total yards of offense.
After the game coach Jim Harbaugh said Evans was special.
“I knew Chris Evans was special. What you saw today, is what we see in practice for the last month,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a special football player. Then really you didn’t get to see everything that he can do. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, he can line up as a receiver. You’ll see that at times in the near future and as a returner.”
Up next for the Wolverines will be the UCF Golden Knights. It will be a 12 p.m. EST kickoff from Michigan Stadium.
