Haskins Scores Twice, Defense Comes up Big Late to Secure U-M Win Over Rutgers

Saturday, September 25

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:30 PM

Michigan

4-0 , 1-0

Rutgers

3-1 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Rutgers

Michigan

Hassan Haskins (Michigan Photography)

Haskins Scores Twice, Defense Comes up Big Late to Secure U-M Win Over Rutgers

9/25/2021 8:30:00 PM | Football

Box Score Highlights vs. Rutgers Postgame Notes Player Participation PDF Boxscore In the Trenches Podcast: Rutgers Postgame Photo Gallery

By: Dave Ablauf, Chad Shepard

» Hassan Haskins scored both of Michigan's touchdowns on the day.
» Ahead by seven points midway through the second half, the Wolverine defense stuffed a fourth-down play and later recovered a fumble to seal the win.
» The Wolverines earned a Big Ten-opening win for the sixth time in seven years under head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Site:Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Score: #19 Michigan 20, Rutgers 13
Records:U-M (4-0, 1-0 B1G), RU (3-1, 0-1 B1G)
Attendance: 106,943
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Oct. 2 -- at Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 11 a.m. CDT

• Postgame Press Conferences: Jim Harbaugh | Players

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan football team earned a 20-13 homecoming victory over Rutgers on Saturday (Sept. 25) at Michigan Stadium behind two rushing touchdowns from Hassan Haskins and a strong fourth-quarter showing by the defense.

The Wolverines (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) earned a conference-opening win for the sixth time in seven years under head coach Jim Harbaugh. This loss is the first for the Scarlet Knights (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten).

Rutgers scored its lone touchdown of the game on 12-play, 91-yard drive in the third quarter that ended on a 14-yard completion. The Scarlet Knights later added a field goal less than a minute into the fourth quarter to cut the U-M lead to 20-13.

From there, the Michigan defense stiffened. After a Rutgers missed field goal at the 9:38 mark, the Wolverines stopped the Scarlet Knights on third-and-one and fourth-and-two from inside the U-M 40 to end a scoring threat. With 1:37 remaining in the game and Rutgers deep in its own end, David Ojabo forced RU quarterback Noah Vedral to fumble and it was scooped up by Junior Colson. He rumbled 13 yards and Michigan ran out the clock to secure the win.

Michigan received the opening kickoff and ate up 74 yards and 7:36 in finding paydirt with a familiar theme. The Wolverines scored on a one-yard rush by Haskins as part of a 17-play drive -- 15 of them rushes, including seven in a row to start the contest.

Rutgers responded with a field goal on its first drive, one of 13 plays that chewed up 6:08, to make it a 7-3 game with 1:08 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing U-M drive, McNamara connected with Erick All for 24 yards before finding Roman Wilson for 38 more, putting Michigan on the three-yard line. For the second time in the game, Haskins added six points to the board for the Maize and Blue to extend the lead to 14-3 with 14:40 left on the second-quarter clock.

U-M capped its first-half scoring with back-to-back field goals from Moody, one from 32 yards with 4:30 remaining in the first half and another from 20 yards out with two seconds before halftime to give Michigan a 20-3 advantage at the break. The Wolverines totaled 233 yards, while Rutgers managed 121 against the Michigan defense.

Haskins (41) and Blake Corum (team-high 68) combined for 109 rushing yards. Mike Sainristil led the Michigan receivers with a career-best 51 yards, all of which came on a Cade McNamara pass that set up the 20-yard field goal from Moody. McNamara ended the game going 9-for-16 with 163 yards.

Defensively, Nikhai Hill-Green made a team-high eight tackles, six solo, and one for loss. R.J. Moten had seven tackles with five solo stops. Senior Aidan Hutchinson tallied five tackles and one sack, and Josh Ross had four tackles, two for loss.

U-M will hit the road for the first time next Saturday (Oct. 2) at 11 a.m. CDT, when they battle Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium, and the game will be broadcast live on Fox.