Michigan beats UNLV 28-7; 2nd straight win under Harbaugh
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh directs his players during warmups before an NCAA college football game against UNLV in Ann Arbor
ANN ARBOR, Mich. >> Ty Isaac ran for a career-high 114 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown, to help Michigan beat UNLV 28-7 Saturday.
The Wolverines (2-1) have won two straight after opening with a loss at Utah under coach Jim Harbaugh. They led the Rebels (0-3) by 21 points after Isaac’s run midway through the second quarter then didn’t score again until early in the fourth.
Jake Rudock was 14 of 22 for 123 yards with a TD and an interception in a lackluster performance. He threw a 5-yard pass to De’Veon Smith after Michigan cornerback Channing Stribling made an interception on the fifth play of the game. The graduate transfer threw his fifth interception on his 78th pass of the season after throwing just five interceptions in 345 attempts last year at Iowa.
UNLV avoided getting shut out with 9:17 left when Blake Decker threw a perfectly lofted 6-yard pass to Devonte Boyd in the corner of the end zone.
Decker, who was knocked out of last week’s loss with a groin injury, completed half of his 16 passes for 96 yards with a TD and two interceptions. Kurt Palandech led the Rebels to the Michigan 14 before getting sacked and throwing an incomplete pass in the end zone on the last two plays of the game.
Michigan established its running game in last week’s win against Oregon State with the offensive line opening holes for Smith, who had career highs with 127 yards rushing, 23 carries and three scores. Smith, though, looked sluggish against the Rebels, running for just 33 yards on 13 carries.
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Isaac, who sat out last season after transferring from USC, made the most of his eight carries against UNLV. He took a toss sweep to the left on a well-blocked play and needed to break only one tackle with a stiff-arm before racing down the sideline. Isaac’s previous best day on the ground was an 87-yard, two-TD game as a freshman for the Trojans at California in 2013.
Michigan went ahead 14-0 early in the second quarter on Jehu Chesson’s 36-yard end-around to the left one play after running a reverse with Amara Darboh to the right. Backup fullback Sione Houma filled in for Joe Kerridge, who went out with an ankle injury, and scored on a 1-yard run early in the fourth to put the Wolverines up 28-7.
Michigan will host BYU next week before opening the Big Ten season at Maryland.
