Michigan focuses on second half issues: 'This needs to be fixed'

ANN ARBOR – Michigan's football team will be riding a three-game road win streak when it takes on Washington on Saturday, but an alarming trend is emerging for the defending champions.

The 10th-ranked Wolverines (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) have built double-digit halftime leads the last three weeks, but almost squandered them in the last two weeks – 27-24 wins over USC and Minnesota.

Last Saturday's win over the Golden Gophers (2-3, 0-2) was particularly impressive after taking a 21-3 lead at halftime.

Michigan received the kickoff in the second half and ran 40 yards in 7 minutes, 36 seconds, resulting in a field goal and a 21-point lead. Then Sherrone Moore's team almost fell apart. Minnesota scored touchdowns on its final three drives and nearly regained possession with a successful onside kick in the final two minutes, but it was called off for an offside penalty.

Michigan rallied on the second try and cemented another win, but Moore recognizes the team played with fire toward the end of games.

“The biggest thing is we didn’t finish the way we wanted to,” Moore said Monday. “There is no speech. There's nothing in the locker room. We just have to work for ourselves at a higher level and that's what we have to do. We will continue to push and emphasize this.”

During the 40-3 streak over the previous three seasons, finishing games in the second half was a hallmark of their success. In last year's 24-15 win over No. 9 Penn State, Michigan ran the ball on all 28 offensive plays in the second half while its defense stifled the Nittany Lions' passing attack and kept them scoreless in the final two quarters until Penn State won The touchdown with 1:59 left cut the lead to nine.

In the national title game against the Huskies, the Wolverines turned it up a notch in the final 15 minutes, outscoring them 14-0 in a 34-13 victory, capping a 15-0 season. Washington's final three drives ended with a punt, an interception and a turnover on downs, while Michigan reached the end zone on its final two drives before running out the clock in the final two minutes.

However, over the past three weeks, Michigan has been outscored 57-26 in the second half by Arkansas State, USC and Minnesota. The ball was passed 595 yards to 389 yards, creating some unsettling moments on both sides of the ball.

“It’s all about execution,” Edge told TJ Guy. “If you don’t succeed, you probably didn’t do your best. I like our guys and if we all perform at a high level, I think we are unstoppable. We just need to know that it's going to take a while and then we have to finish. We have to finish dominantly.”

After Michigan held a 21-point lead midway through the third quarter against the Gophers, the next two games were disastrous. Junior quarterback Alex Orji, making his second career start, floated a ball behind an open Colston Loveland, but the pass's lack of zipper and location gave a Minnesota defender enough time to close in and intercept.

On the Wolverines' next drive, they scored a three-pointer and the Gophers returned the punt to the Michigan 17-yard line, allowing for another touchdown.

“A win is a win,” Michigan right guard Giovanni El-Hadi said. “In the end we won and that’s the most important thing. Is it the way we wanted it? No, it's not that. We have to continue to be dominant throughout the game. This needs to be fixed and we will fix it. Just keep working on it, keep putting in the effort, keep pushing yourself through every game with confidence.”

Meanwhile, Michigan's defense began to splinter as Minnesota played faster in the fourth quarter.

“We have to find a line and assert ourselves quickly,” Moore said of defending up-tempo offenses. “That was the biggest thing, lining up. They talk to defensive coordinators all over the country. If you get lined up, you have a chance. So we just have to line up and put our cleats in the ground and that will help us with all those things.”

The Wolverines' winning streak comes on the heels of a 31-12 loss to Texas in Week 2, when they trailed 24-3 at halftime. As encouraging as the team's starts have been over the past three weeks, the players realize they need to be better at the end of games. But it's also a program that lost nearly 20 players with starting experience from last season's team and has a first-year head coach – two factors that make Guy confident the group will continue to improve as the year progresses .

“Just a continuation of the search for each other and our identity,” Guys said. “There are a lot of new things in this staff, in this team. I have no doubt that at the end of the season we will be exactly where we want to be in the second half. We just have to finish, finish better, as you can see. But I’m not worried about that.”

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