– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND — It was bound to happen at some point this season; the University of Michigan football program was going to make college football history by hitting four digits in victories, and as far as this year’s iteration of the Wolverines are concerned, it was also inevitable that their run of sheer dominance throughout this season would give way in the later months to resistance that would seriously threaten their run at their first national championship in a quarter century.
The game to put a scare into the Maize and Blue came one week before most expected it to come, but at least they go into the Big Game still spotless — and feeling grand.
Blake Corum rushed for two first half to help the Wolverines build a 20-point lead before holding on late to become the first college football program to earn 1,000 victories, doing so with a 31-24 away victory over Maryland inside SECU Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Cornerback Mike Sainristil had two interceptions and the Michigan defense came up with a late safety to seal the victory and ensure that it heads into next week’s monumental clash at home with No. 3 Ohio State unbeaten.
The man who has led the Wolverines to just over a tenth of those wins as a player (21) and head coach (80), Jim Harbaugh, missed the historic occasion on Saturday while serving the second of his three-game suspension for the sign-stealing scandal that has enveloped the program over the past month. Acting head coach Sherrone Moore led Michigan for the second consecutive week, and has now overseen victories over then No. 9 Penn State and Maryland, and will lead the Wolverines to their matchup against the undefeated Buckeyes with a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game up for grabs.
“We all know what time it is,” linebacker Michael Barrett said. “Once this game was over, we knew where our attention was going to go.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Rodney Pierce. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 34 pictures in total.
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