Michigan football had problems putting away South Carolina out of the SEC in the Outback Bowl and here’s what we learned about the Wolverines’ loss.
Through the better part of three quarters, the Outback Bowl looked was a snoozer and Michigan looked like it was on its way to an easy win. However, South Carolina didn’t go down without a fight, making the Wolverines fight for a victory late in the game.
South Carolina didn’t give up even when down 19-3 in the second half and the offense was doing nothing productive. The Gamecocks took advantage of some costly Michigan turnovers to score 20 straight points to take its first lead in the fourth quarter.
In the end, the Gamecocks pulled out a comeback victory, 26-19. That made the Big Ten’s record this bowl season 7-1 and dropped Jim Harbaugh to 1-2 in bowl games at Michigan.
What’d we learn from Michigan’s loss to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl?
3. Michigan shot itself in the foot
People have found ways to knock Michigan’s defense all season long, but there was no reason to hate on the Wolverines on Monday afternoon as they were dominant against a shaky South Carolina offense. I say the Gamecocks’ offense was shaky because Michigan was making life difficult for them.
Instead, it was Michigan’s offense that was the issue. Moreover, it was the turnover issue which really did the Wolverines in. There were a number of fumbles in crucial position such as a Karan Higdon cough-up inside the South Carolina 5-yard-line and Donovan Peoples-Jones muffed punt late in the fourth quarter.
On top of that, Brandon Peters threw an ugly interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter which ended a would-be go-ahead drive.
Michigan was given one last shot after a missed field goal by South Carolina with under two minutes left, but Peters threw yet another interception. Turnovers once again plagued the Wolverines.