Michigan scores 4 TDs in 1st quarter and rolls to a 63-6 win over Delaware State in tuneup

Michigan beats Delaware State 63-6 in tuneup

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan had a record-breaking day in a 63-6 win over Delaware State on Saturday.

The Wolverines (5-2) set team marks with 442 yards in the first half and 727 total. They matched a school record with a 28-point first quarter and led 49-3 with their second-highest score by halftime.

The Hornets (1-4) didn’t come close to repeating Appalachian State’s upset in 2007 at the Big House, but the second-tier program got paid $550,000 to forfeit a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game to give Michigan a tuneup.

Quarterback Tate Forcier started, a week after having a concussion, and led the Wolverines to a TD on his only drive and left the game healthy.

Denard Robinson threw two touchdown passes on just four attempts and fumbled. Michigan also used its third-, fourth- and fifth-string quarterbacks.

Forcier played after being listed as questionable, but was only on the field for one drive. He completed both his passes for 39 yards.

Michigan didn’t ask any of its QBs to throw more than nine passes, choosing to hand the ball off early and often, perhaps to avoid making the score even more lopsided against the overmatched Football Championship Subdivision team.

The Wolverines rested their top two running backs — Carlos Brown because of a concussion and Brandon Minor who has an ankle injury — and some inexperienced players took advantage.

Vincent Smith ran for a career-high 166 yards and a touchdown. Michael Cox had 82 yards rushing and two scores. Michael Shaw ran for 73 yards and a TD.

Michigan had two brothers score in their highest-scoring game since scoring 63 points against Minnesota in 1992.

Kelvin Grady, who came to Michigan to play basketball, scored on a reception and Kevin Grady ran for a score.

Delaware State avoided a shutout in the final minute of the first half — thanks to Larrone Moore’s 51-yard kickoff return — on Riley Flickinger’s field goal. He kicked another field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 49-6.

The Hornets sat starting QB Anthony Glaud, a week after he had a concussion in a loss to Bethune-Cookman, and started Nick Elko.

They gained just 14 yards on their first four drives, and it didn’t get much better after that.

Delaware State’s lucrative payday was costly in another sense because it chose to forfeit its previously scheduled conference game at North Carolina A&T.