ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 7 Michigan displayed its Top 10 pedigree with a 63-3 win over the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Warrior football team Saturday at Michigan Stadium. UH dropped to 0-2 while playing in front of 110,222 fans, the biggest crowd ever for a UH game.
The Wolverines flexed their muscles on both sides of the ball, finding the end zone on the ground, in the air, and twice on defense. Michigan took a 35-0 lead into the locker room at halftime and eventually out-gained UH 512-232 for the game.
Chris Evans rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, while junior quarterback Wilton Speight went 10-of-13 for 145 yards and three touchdowns in a little more than a half of action.
Marcus Kemp led the UH offense with five catches for 96 yards. Signal caller
Ikaika Woolsey went 7-of-13 for 88 yards, while sophomore
Dru Brown came in the second half to go 5-of-10 for 63 yards and added 49 yards rushing in his first action as a Rainbow Warrior.
UH put up 31 points and gained 482 yards in its opener against Pac-12 opponent Cal, but it was far different story against one of the best defenses in the land.
Michigan held UH to -17 yards in the first quarter alone and for the game returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns.
The UH defense got off to a great start with a
Damien Packer interception on Michigan's first offensive play of the game. But after that it was all Michigan.
The Wolverines got on track with drives of 98 and 68 yards as Speight shook off the early interception with a pair of TD passes in the first quarter. Speight's third touchdown pass of the day gave the Wolverines a 21-0 lead in the second quarter, while Delano Hill's 27-yard pick-six and Evans' 18-yard run capped the Michigan scoring in the second half.
The UH offense started to show signs of life on its final possession of the first half. UH got its initial first down with five minutes left in the first half and put together a drive deep into Michigan territory. But after getting inside the Wolverine 10-yard line, an intentional grounding penalty extinguished the clock and any chance for UH points in the opening half.
But later,
Rigoberto Sanchez provided the biggest bright spot for UH in the fourth quarter when he nailed a career-long 55-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to prevent the shutout. The field goal was one yard short of the school-record shared by Jason Elam (1992) and Justin Ayat (2004).
The Rainbow Warriors next meet UT Martin in their home opener on Hawaiian Tel FCU Field at Aloha Stadium, next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. HT.
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