Michigan ended year one of the Jim Harbaugh era with an exclamation point.
The Wolverines completely dominated Florida on both sides of the ball to win the Citrus Bowl, 41-7, and finish the season with 10 wins. While Michigan’s fourth-ranked defense smothered the overmatched Florida offense and didn’t allow a point in the game’s final three quarters, fifth-year senior Jake Rudock, in his final collegiate game, turned in another solid performance, carving up the Gators for 278 yards and three touchdowns.
The performance gave Rudock 3,017 yards passing for the season, the second-best single season total in Michigan history.
Before Rudock, a graduate transfer from Iowa, could pick apart the Florida secondary, Michigan set the tone with a bruising ground game. De’Veon Smith led the way with 109 yards for the Wolverines, while Drake Johnson (six rushes, 58 yards) and fullback Sione Houma (nine rushes, 32 yards) each reached the end zone. Overall, the Wolverines finished with 225 yards on the ground and did so against a Florida defense that allowed only 120.6 yards rushing per game entering the game.
Of the 273 yards the Florida offense was able to muster on the afternoon, 130 came on its first two drives.
The Gators moved all the way to the Michigan 20 on their first drive, but the Wolverines sniffed an attempted fake field goal. Nine plays later, Michigan opened the scoring when Johnson punched it in from four yards out.
Florida was able to respond on the ensuing drive. The much-maligned Treon Harris put together one of his better drives of the season, completing passes of 15, 27 and 20 yards down to the one-yard line. Two plays later, Gators coach Jim McElwain dialed up a trick play to tie the game.
Running back Kelvin Taylor took a direct snap and pitched the ball to wideout Antonio Callaway, who found Harris for a score.
The teams then traded punts on their next two drives before Rudock’s first touchdown pass of the game. Using a nice pump fake, Rudock fooled Gators All-American defensive back Vernon Hargreaves and found Jehu Chesson wide open for a 31-yard score.
Florida had a chance to tie the game on its next drive, but Harris threw an ill-advised interception in the end zone. The Wolverines then tacked on a field goal to take a 17-7 half time lead.
The second half was dominated by Michigan.
On their first three second half drives, the Wolverines put together scoring drives of 69, 58 and 84 yards to build a 38-7 lead, taking more than 12 minutes off the clock in the process. The Wolverines later tacked on a field goal to cap off the blowout, 41-7, victory.
The win is an excellent way to kick off Harbaugh’s tenure as head coach, especially after a 5-7 finish in 2014.
Florida, the SEC East champions, sputtered down the stretch with three straight losses to finish 10-4. Still, the first season under McElwain has to feel like a success after the program combined for 11 wins in the final two seasons of the Will Muschamp era.
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