Stat Analysis: Just how good was Joe Milton and the Wolverines on Saturday?

Joe Milton dazzled at times last Saturday, and his performance ranks highly in terms of QB debuts throughout Michigan history.

Joe Milton was extremely impressive in his debut, leading Michigan to its 17th consecutive win in Minneapolis. Milton became the first Wolverine quarterback to throw for over 200 yards without an interception in their first career start since John Navarre accomplished that feat on September 2, 2000 against Bowling Green. With a passer rating of 169.1, Milton had the best passer rating by a Wolverine quarterback in a season opener since Wilton Speight did so in 2016 against Hawaii.

Milton was the first Wolverine quarterback to throw for over 220 yards in a win against a ranked opponent since January 1, 2016, when Jake Rudock passed for 278 yards in the Citrus Bowl against Florida. Milton also became the first Michigan quarterback to throw for over 220 yards in a road victory against a ranked opponent since October 1, 2005 when Chad Henne threw for 256 yards against the Spartans.

Milton had a completion percentage of 68.2% in the contest, Shea Patterson, Michigan’s quarterback last season, only had two games last year with a completion percentage of over 66%.

In addition, Milton was stellar running the football becoming the first Michigan quarterback to have over 50 rushing yards with a rushing touchdown in a Big Ten road victory since Denard Robinson ran for 117 yards with two touchdowns against Northwestern in 2011.

Milton even became the first Wolverine quarterback since Denard Robinson in 2010 to rush for over 50 yards, have a rushing touchdown, throw for over 200 yards and have a passing touchdown without throwing an interception against a Big Ten opponent.

What about the other Wolverines?

In his first career start for the Wolverines, Michael Barrett was outstanding. The Michigan viper became the first Wolverine to ever force a turnover and have a 60 plus yard kickoff return in the same game. Barrett’s strip sack led to a scoop and score, which was the Wolverines first fumble defensive touchdown since 2018 and their first fumble recovery for a touchdown since September 2, 2017.

Everyone seemed to contribute catching the football, as nine different Wolverines had at least ten yards receiving or a touchdown reception, which has not happened for Michigan since September 24, 2016, when the Wolverines defeated Penn State 49-10.

Michigan’s running game was also fantastic. The Wolverines had four different players rush for a touchdown for the first time since October 8, 2016, when Michigan defeated Rutgers 78-0. Michigan also had three guys rush for over 50 yards, as Hassan Haskins had 82 yards on six carries, Zach Charbonnet had 70 yards on four carries and Joe Milton had 52 yards on eight carries. The last time the Wolverines had three players rush for over 50 yards in a Big Ten contest was also October 8, 2016 against Rutgers. Charbonnet's 70 yard touchdown run was the longest rushing touchdown by a Wolverine running back since Karan Higdon’s 77 yard run against the Golden Gophers on November 4, 2017.

The Wolverines also had two different ball carriers rush for over 10 yards per carry for the first time since Chris Evans and Karan Higdon accomplished that feat in 2017, as Charbonnet averaged 17.5 yards per carry and Haskins averaged 13.7 yards per carry. Michigan’s running back Blake Corum became the first Wolverine true freshman to generate the first offensive yards of a Michigan season since Matavious Odoms in 2008. As a team Michigan had five rushing touchdowns, which was the most rushing touchdowns in a Wolverines road game since they ran for nine touchdowns against Rutgers in 2016.

Josh Ross joined Josh Metellus, as the only Wolverines to have an interception and over eight tackles in the same game since Tyree Kinnel did against Cincinnati in 2017.

One of the lone disappointments from Saturday’s games was on special teams, as the Wolverines missed three kicks for the first time since October 1, 2016 against Wisconsin.