Michigan blanks Terps for second straight shutout win

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There are two-week-old babies out there who have never seen the Michigan defense give up a point.

For the second straight week, the Wolverines pitched a shutout, following up a 31-0 win over BYU with Saturday's 28-0 blanking of Maryland.

The Terps, who are not playing good football at all right now, gained just 105 total yards Saturday in a game that was pushed from primetime to an 11 a.m. kick due to impending nasty weather on the East Coast. Michigan held Maryland to just 29 rushing yards and picked off quarterback Caleb Rowe three times, continuing to play sensationally on the defensive side of the football, where its standing as one of the country's best defensive teams will improve further.

It was an ugly start for both teams, neither offense able to do much in suboptimal weather conditions. Michigan fumbled twice in the first half, while Maryland saw two picks tossed by Rowe. The lone scoring in the first half was a pair of field goals for the Wolverines.

[MORE BIG TEN: Northwestern moves to 5-0 with dominant win over Gophers]

But Michigan's offense — which was without the services of top running back De'Veon Smith, who stayed in Ann Arbor with an injury — picked things up in the second half with a trio of touchdowns to turn a 6-0 game into a complete rout. Jake Rudock hit Drake Johnson on a screen pass and a 31-yard touchdown. Jehu Chesson took an end around 66 yards for a score. And Johnson added his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Rowe, meanwhile, was replaced with Daxx Garman for the second straight week after his trio of interceptions. Rowe now has 12 interceptions on the season, his first action coming in the fourth quarter of the Terps' Week 2 loss to Bowling Green. He threw two picks in just three throws in that game. Since, he's thrown 10 more interceptions in three games. Head coach Randy Edsall stuck with Rowe over Garman to start this week's game. Don't be surprised to see him go with Garman next week. If he does, it'd be the Terps' second starting quarterback switch of the season, which is just five games old.

Rudock finished completing just 50 percent of his passes for 180 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Michigan rushed for 198 yards. The Wolverines had three turnovers of their own.

No. 22 Michigan improved to 4-1 on the season. A big clash awaits next week, with the Wolverines hosting the undefeated Northwestern Wildcats in Ann Arbor.

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