The B1G on Peacock Era opened with a brilliant first 35 minutes from JJ McCarthy, followed by a comatose 25 minutes that begged the question "what's the point?" before culminating in the saddest field goal of all Sad Field Goals. East Carolina snapped the shutout to preserve whatever pride they had left but head back to Greenville soundly defeated, the 30-3 score perhaps not even the best reflection of the lopsided nature of the game when both starting units were in. Michigan taking their foot off the gas is all that prevented the Big House turf from flowing red with Pirate blood. 

East Carolina got the ball to begin the game and went three and out, with Michigan safety Keon Sabb, in his first career college start, getting a PBU to end the drive. Michigan was indeed short-handed with injuries but not quite as severe as perhaps anticipated. Makari Paige did play, while Will Johnson warmed up but did not appear in the contest. ECU punted it deep and Jake Thaw did not catch it, instead letting it roll down to the two. Backed up in the shadow of their own goal line, Michigan was as conservative as it gets, running three times into run blitzes and then punting. 

ECU's next drive didn't go any better, two run plays that were stuffed before QB Mason Garcia fired under pressure from Kenneth Grant, short-arming the ball and leaving it off target, plucked out of the air for an INT by Mike Sainristil. Michigan's ensuing drive was the first of five straight that would end in points and the beginning of the fireworks display from JJ McCarthy. But first was a play that will make headlines: the return of the train play from 2016, a tribute to the suspended Jim Harbaugh (several players including McCarthy wore "Free Harbaugh" shirts to the game). 

[Bryan Fuller]

But once the luster of the train wore off, it was a beautiful showing of offense. McCarthy zipped a ball in to Roman Wilson on an out route to get it going. Blake Corum galloped for 21 down to the 15 and two plays later, McCarthy sidestepped pressure, rolled, and just as he was crossing the line of scrimmage, fired a dart to Wilson in the end zone for a TD. McCarthy appeared to be across the line of scrimmage, but the referees ruled that just enough of his back foot was on the line to leave the call on the field and uphold the TD. 7-0 Michigan. 

East Carolina's fourth drive was their longest of the game, going for 32 yards, and it was led by a new QB: Alex Flinn. The veteran seemed to calm the Pirate offense down and got them moving, but then fired a seeming interception to Michigan corner Josh Wallace. It appeared to your author that Wallace secured the catch with both feet in bounds, but after review, the call was overturned. Peacock never showed us comprehensive replays or explained why it was overturned, so your guess is as good as mine. Nevertheless, Sainristil broke up a fade and Michigan forced another punt. 

[Patrick Barron]

McCarthy was right back on his game on Michigan's next possession. On four consecutive plays McCarthy converted a 3rd & 11 with a strike to Cornelius Johnson, hit Colston Loveland on play-action for 24, found Loveland on a 15 yard out, and then scrambled and uncorked a laser to Roman Wilson in the end zone for a TD. Yowza! Transfer kicker James Turner shanked the extra point and Michigan led 20-0 with 5:32 remaining in the first half. 

On the next possession, for the first time all game, East Carolina drove into Michigan territory and got a chance to score points. Sloppy tackling from the Wolverines allowed ECU to pick up a pair of third-and-short/mediums and sail their way inside the Wolverine 35 as time ticked under 90 seconds remaining. However, Michigan's LBs stuffed the first down run, Kris Jenkins forced Flinn to throw the ball away, and then a throw for Jaylon Johnson (defended by Sabb) was ruled incomplete after a review (seemed obvious at the time). Curiously, Michigan seemed to have 12 players on the field and a flag was thrown but after the review, the penalty was never enforced and instead ECU faced a 51 yard FG. Coach Mike Houston sent Andrew Conrad out there, who pushed the kick wide. 

Michigan now had a shorter field and time to drive for a field goal of their own, with 48 seconds remaining in the half. McCarthy short-armed his first couple throws but overall had little problem directing the offense into field goal range. A 12 yard pass to Wilson and then a 9 yard delivery to Frederick Moore, the true freshman's first NCAA catch, set Turner up for a 50 yard FG. The grad student kicker banged it right down the middle (would've been good from 60) and Michigan led 23-0 at halftime. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: second half, takes, box score]

[Bryan Fuller]

The second half began just as the first half had ended with JJ McCarthy swashbucklin', slicing and dicing the Pirate defense en route to another scoring play. Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards picked up chunks on the ground in between great throws by McCarthy. His best was the one that concluded the drive, a dime to Roman Wilson in the corner of the end zone, perfectly placed between the coverage. Wilson's third TD catch of the game and McCarthy's third TD pass of the game. 30-0. 

East Carolina went three-and-out on their first possession of the second half and Michigan was right back at it on offense. McCarthy's surgical precision was still present: seven yard pass to Edwards followed by 14 yards to Loveland. Edwards rushed Michigan into Pirate territory and a couple plays later, McCarthy scrambled and threw seconds before getting blasted up high, a roughing the passer with targeting that made all of us say "why is JJ still in the game?". Don't worry, this would be his last drive. McCarthy's final pass of the day went for 15 yards to Johnson and after an unnecessary roughness penalty on ECU, Michigan had 1st & G at the six.

This situation led to a profoundly stupid sequence, where interim coach Jesse Minter and playcaller Kirk Campbell displayed appalling stubbornness in trying to get Donovan Edwards a TD. They got five shots at it (one play was initially ruled a TD, then marked short after replay but an offsides penalty was accepted to replay the down), five run plays all designed for Edwards inside the six yard line, and Michigan did not score. East Carolina was doing what they'd done all day, packing the box and telling Michigan to do something else. This time, Michigan declined. It probably would've helped to use a short yardage back like Corum or Kalel Mullings too, but Michigan needed to get Edwards a TD like humans need oxygen. Instead, it burned them with a stupid result capped off by a 4th down play (McCarthy fumbled the snap) that had fans writhing with TCU flashbacks. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Michigan wouldn't score again, pulling the starters and phoning it in on offense, slamming into a wall against an ECU defense that was dead set to stop the run. They didn't let Davis Warren off the leash and when Warren threw, he didn't look particularly special. Sloppy discipline leading to pre-snap penalties set some of these drives back and the closest they got to scoring was a Turner 52-yard FG attempt, which was hooked way wide.

Defensively, an ever-increasing hodgepodge of players off the depth chart let the Pirates drive, but had a shutout going until the final play of the game. ECU got down to the 14 with just over 6 minutes to go and chose not to attempt a Sad Field Goal, Mason Garcia (who had re-entered the game) scrambling short of the line to gain and turning it over on downs. On their second trip into Michigan territory of the half, Mike Houston changed his mind. Down to the 16 with five seconds left, he lined up Andrew Conrad for a 33 yard attempt and this time, Conrad fit it through. Shutout no more, the clock operator mercifully letting two additional seconds run off the clock and the game was over. 30-3. 

There's only so much you can say about this kind of game and a re-watch will be more illuminating for the most intriguing parts of this game, the offensive tackles and the DBs. Michigan's running game lacked the luster of last year, RBs gaining 132 yards on 29 carries (4.6 YPC) but on the initial review, this seemed to be very much a strategic decision by ECU. As for pass protection, to ECU's credit, they tried all kinds of funky blitzes and some of them had success. McCarthy was just too slippery and the coverage not tight enough to stop Michigan's blazing passing game. 

[Patrick Barron]

McCarthy will undoubtedly be the story of this game, should there be any story that lasts in the popular memory for more than 15 minutes. #9 was a maestro in this contest, 26/30 for 280 yards (9.3 Y/A), 3 TD, 0 INT. His throws were right on the money all day long, some of them into tight windows. McCarthy's arm strength was apparent, save for a couple throws late in the first half. The balls were launched from a cannon, crisp accuracy and decision-making gusto that provides encouraging evidence in support of the sort of junior-year leap that feels so essential for Michigan's quest to end a 26-year national title drought. 

Defensively I don't have too many notes, as Michigan was switching out defensive players frequently. ECU's offensive line was totally overwhelmed, as expected in my preview, but again, they were well prepared for that reality, a credit to the coaching of Houston's staff. They got the ball out in a hurry to nerf the pass rush and tried to spread it out on the ground east to west to prevent Michigan from detonating their offense as much as possible. Michigan's young and inexperienced secondary seemed fine on first watch, but again, UFR will be much more useful for this analysis. If I had one stand-out hero on defense, it was NT Kenneth Grant, a regularly disruptive presence up the middle swatting Pirate linemen aside like flies. 

Special teams saw Turner have a bumpy Michigan debut, the two 50+ yard FG attempts with extremely different results and a disconcerting 3/4 day on PAT's. Tommy Doman looked fine as Michigan's punter, 2 punts for 89 yards. Michigan used Jake Thaw twice as a punt returner and Karmello English once. No sign of Kalel Mullings or of Alex Orji on kick return. Alas. 

Michigan has now won their season opener for the fifth straight season and is 7-2 in week one in the Jim Harbaugh Era. Next up is UNLV a week from today, a contest which doesn't project to be any more competitive. Sherrone Moore will be back as offensive coordinator but Jim Harbaugh will still be suspended. That game is scheduled for 3:30 pm EST and will be broadcast on CBS.