No. 17 MI routs No. 19 Florida 41-7 in Citrus Bowl

Chesson’s highlight grab set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Sione Houma, which made it 31-7 and put the game out of reach. The first game came in the 2003 Outback Bowl played in Tama, where MI won 38-30.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Someone forgot to tell MI that this was supposed to be a struggle between defenses.

Coach Jim Harbaugh’s boot camp bowl prep for the Citrus Bowl paid dividends over Florida Friday, as his No. 17 Wolverines buried the No. 19 Gators, 41-7, in front of 63,113 fans at the Citrus Bowl Stadium, sealing an impressive first season and boosting expectations for 2016. Our defense was magnificent…. Trick plays are to be expected in bowl games where teams have had a month to prepare. This win marked Michigan’s first bowl victory since 2012.

Harbaugh wrapped his first season as the MI head football coach with a 10-3 record, just the second year with double-digit wins at MI since Lloyd Carr left after the 2007 season.

Rudock credited the coaching staff’s game plan and scouting efforts with putting him and his teammates in optimum situations.

“And that, to me, is positive because they’re good players and we’ve got a lot going for us in the future”. They took it to us, beat us up front, did a great job in the red area, kept us off balance. I think it’s obvious some of the guys on the team, younger guys who haven’t been there, don’t know how to succeed, kind of got a little complacent.

Who were the real stars of the game? “I wish I had gotten the win today, but we came up with an “L”. The offense scored on seven of their first eight possessions.

MI physically pounded Florida at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and appeared to effectively break the Gators’ back after opening the second half with a 12-play, 69-yard march that chewed up more than six minutes off the clock.

“It was a case of getting your rump kicked in”.

“It’s a big game for the Florida Gators”, senior offensive guard Trip Thurman said. Grady is a 6-foot-1 senior from Tampa, Florida and was the third-string quarterback at the start of the season. The Wolverines are already back, and a dominant performance against the Gators positions Harbaugh’s program with loads of momentum heading into the off-season.

MI took a 17-7 lead into halftime thanks largely to the efficiency of the Wolverines passing attack.

It was over when: Early on in the third quarter, Rudock threw a bullet pass into the end zone that looked like it was going to be intercepted.

Jake Rudock was fantastic, finishing off his collegiate career with a Tom Brady impression – 278 yards and three touchdowns – to move over 3,000 passing yards on the year.

If things don’t change with Harris and the offense, the Gators figure to have a hard time finding the end zone again Friday. The elder Taylor ended the 1997 season with 1, 292 yards rushing, 234 coming in a victory over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl. With the Gators’ second and fourth leading receivers (Demarcus Robinson, Jake McGee) not returning next season, expect Callaway’s numbers to go up in 2016. A lofted pass attempt as he rolled right trying to avoid a sack fell into the hands of Wolverine safety Jarrod Wilson’s hands.

The Wolverines drove down on the next series and added a field goal to extend their lead to 10.

“I went ahead and pulled out some old wishbone film”, McElwain said with a serious face.