Arthur isn't a freaking aardvark. That kid is a damn lie. PBS clearly forced the original Arthur to undergo a series of painful plastic surgeries before ultimately replacing him with a different child actor. Last I heard, Classic Recipe Arthur was living in a bunker somewhere, trying to make a living selling tableware on Etsy with "Live Laugh Love" on printed on the side.
But this new kid had it made! The Arthur TV show aired for a mind-boggling 25 seasons, broadcasting its final episode last February, which looked into a dystopian future hellscape where Arthur has a soulpatch and his incredibly irritating sister D.W. is a cop.
All I'm saying is: you never really know what version of reality to trust. One minute you're watching an aardvark do cool aardvark things, and the next Rutgers is giving up 28 points in the 3rd quarter and crushing whatever hopes anyone had of Michigan's ultimate 52-17 victory being anything but predictable and lame.
That's right, in this week's tortured analogy, Rutgers is a biologically accurate nocturnal mammal and Jim Harbaugh is the PBS executive who didn't think Weird Arthur would appeal to the right demo.
THE OFFENSE
Rutgers probably had a (small) chance to pull off the upset, in part because there are a few signs that Michigan's offense is becoming somewhat stagnant. Up 17-14 at halftime, the Scarlet Knights quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw three interceptions in the 3rd quarter, and all of them resulted in Michigan touchdowns.
And look, fair play to the Wolverines for converting, but J.J. McCarthy was again mediocre on the whole: 13/27 for 151 yards is less than ideal this late in the season, albeit against a generally game Greg Schiano defense (Rutgers now has the 21st-ranked pass defense in the country).
But what's really interesting to me is the running back situation. It's clear that Harbaugh trusts Blake Corum with the rock and also probably historical accuracy more than Donovan Edwards, but Corum (20 carries, 109 yards) is rapidly adding to his total rushing attempts for the season, which now ranks him seventh in the country. At least Edwards, for his part, is running with the enthusiasm of a kid about to go on an unscheduled field trip (and added 109 yards of his own on the ground).
Still, a blueprint might be emerging for slowing this rushing attack down. If Harbaugh doesn't gain some newfound faith in his quarterback, that upcoming Illinois game could get very interesting.
Oh, and Rutgers blocked a punt for a touchdown! That was funny.
BLOCKED PUNT TOUCHDOWN @RFootball TIES IT UP pic.twitter.com/YgdHx2XHjZ
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 6, 2022
THE DEFENSE
The reason why the Wolverines were never in any real danger of losing this game to Rutgers' offense was that the Michigan defense basically sat on their chest and refused to move for 60 minutes.
The Michigan defensive line in particular was dominant, and had seven tackles for loss, including three sacks. Wimsatt replaced Noah Vedral, and he's been exactly as bad as his predecessor, but it might be a teensy bit relevant that, interceptions aside, a harried Wimsatt (14/29, 166 yards) was about as accurate as McCarthy was with far less pressure.
So Wimsatt is bad, but the reason why Schiano still tried to put the game on his shoulders was because the Rutgers running game was non-existent. 19 carries for 14 yards is honestly kind of amazing, and says something about the kind of penetration the Michigan defensive line was getting all game.
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
Not a ton, honestly. Michigan was lazy in the first half and the beneficiary of some really dumb Scarlet Knight decisions in the second. They did do something that they had trouble with in previous games, which is score consistently in the red zone.
Any other week and Ohio State fans would probably have at least a little more room to gloat about the two teams' performances, respectively, but, uh... well, I saw the Northwestern game and it's difficult to focus on anything else re: The Game. That'll likely be the case for the rest of the season as these two teams barrel towards what will likely be a top-three matchup on the 26th.
The Threat Level is SEVERE.
