Michigan rolls to 31-0 victory vs. No. 22 BYU

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Early last week Jim Harbaugh said facing BYU would be a great gauge for the Michigan football team.

Based on Saturday’s result, it was full.

The Wolverines dominated No. 22 Brigham Young from the second possession of the game, opening a 31-0 halftime lead and maintaining that to the conclusion in the blowout at Michigan Stadium.

It was Michigan’s first win over a ranked team since knocking off Notre Dame on Sept. 7, 2013 and a statement that the Wolverines continue to improve each week.

As the first half wound down, U-M radio analyst Dan Dierdorf summed it up the best he could.

“I’m going to use a word we haven’t used about Michigan in a long time: flawless,” he said. “This was a flawless first half.”

Both the offense and defense excelled against the Cougars, who were playing their third road game in the first four weeks, each in a different time zone.

For the Michigan offense, it was a mix of everything.

Maligned quarterback Jake Rudock led four consecutive touchdown drives U-M’s first time since the 2013 Central Michigan game and in all different ways.

On the first drive, he executed a beautiful play fake and held the ball on third down before hitting tight end Khalid Hill over the middle to the 1, before running the touchdown in himself two plays later. On the second drive, after hitting tight end Jake Butt with a 41-yard catch and run, he used his savvy. U-M (3-1) faced a fourth down in the BYU red zone, and Rudock’s hard count drew BYU offsides and kept alive a drive in which he connected with Amara Darboh for a touchdown.

After that, BYU began fading. De’Veon Smith took a handoff into the scrum and emerged, breaking tackles and rumbling for a 60-yard touchdown. Rudock ripped off another 31/2 minute scoring drive, ending it by showing off his feet with a 15-yard scoring run.

And, just to show they were human, the Wolverines kicked a field goal for the first time since the season opener to push the margin to 31-0 by halftime.

Lost in the offensive machine was Darboh’s stunning first-quarter highlight, a one-handed catch of a Rudock pass while falling back.

For the defense, which has beaten itself down for allowing one touchdown drive each of the past two weeks, there was utter dominance in their first shutout since the Illinois game in 2012.

The Cougars (2-2) were averaging 432 yards on offense. They ended the day with 105.

Much of the previous success came through the air, from their 311 passing yards per game. Yet U-M stifled quarterback Tanner Mangum, setting an early tone. In the first quarter, he was just 1-of-6. By halftime, it was just 4-of-13 for 25 yards after the BYU offense produced only 10 yards of offense in the quarter. By Saturday’s end, Magnum had 55.

For the previous two weeks, easily handling Oregon State and UNLV, the U-M defense looked impressive, but the low-level competition retained some doubt.

All of those questions were answered, especially in the second half when the U-M offense couldn’t continue its pace but the defense retained its high level.

The Wolverines got a scare also when Smith (16 carries, 125 yards) injured his right ankle in the third quarter, leading to a trip to the locker room and, eventually, a walking boot.

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