Field Level Media
Nov 22, 2020
Cade McNamara threw four touchdown passes and ran for another in a relief role, Hassan Haskins scored on a 1-yard plunge in the third overtime and Michigan ended a three-game losing streak with a 48-42 victory over Rutgers at Piscataway, N.J., on Saturday.
McNamara completed 27 of 36 passes for 260 yards. Starting quarterback Joe Milton was benched late in the first half after completing just five of 12 pass attempts.
Haskins rushed for 111 yards on 25 carries for the Wolverines (2-3, 2-3 Big Ten).
Noah Vedral passed for 381 yards and three touchdowns for Rutgers (1-4, 1-4) and forced overtime by throwing a touchdown pass and running in the two-point conversion in the final minute. Vedral hit Aron Cruickshank with an 11-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-9 with 27 seconds left.
Michigan's Quinn Nordin missed a 35-yard field-goal try in the first overtime but Valentino Ambrosio pulled a 45-yard try on Rutgers' possession.
Jovani Haskins then hauled in a 25-yard scoring pass from Vedral on the next play to put the Scarlet Knights on top. McNamara scored from two yards out as the Wolverines forced a third overtime.
After Haskins put Michigan in front with his scoring run, the two-point conversion pass failed. But the Scarlet Knights failed to pick up a first down on their possession, which ended with a fourth-down interception.
Rutgers held a 17-7 halftime lead.
Michigan's Giles Jackson returned the third-quarter kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. He raced along the left sideline as the Wolverines immediately cut the Scarlet Knights' 10-point halftime advantage to 17-14.
Rutgers got those points back just over a minute later when Vedral found Bo Melton behind the defense on a 61-yard scoring pass.
The Wolverines responded with McNamara's 8-yard touchdown pass to Nick Eubanks.
Ambrosio's 42-yard field goal with 6:00 left in the third quarter nudged Rutgers' lead to 27-21.
The Wolverines took the lead for the first time when wideout Mike Sainristil cut toward the hashmarks and caught a 6-yard pass from McNamara with 13:38 remaining.
McNamara's fourth scoring toss, a 9-yard hookup with Cornelius Johnson, increased the Wolverines' lead to 35-27.
--Field Level Media
