Michigan committed 13 penalties against SMU.
ANN ARBOR — Chase Winovich spotted his friend, teammate, and fellow defensive player Khaleke Hudson after Michigan’s win over SMU Saturday and — given that Hudson had been ejected from the game — tried to lighten the mood.
“Free Khaleke!” Winovich said.
Hudson’s ejection for targeting in the third quarter of Michigan’s 45-20 win meant that he will have to sit for the first half of next Saturday’s game against Nebraska.
“I was just messing with him,” Winovich said with a laugh. “He told me to chill.”
Hudson, Michigan’s starting safety/linebacker, was not made available to the media after the game, but teammate Josh Metellus said Hudson was “pretty upset.”
Hudson got tossed after his hit on back-up quarterback William Brown. With 5:42 left in the third quarter, Brown ran on a draw play right up the middle and Hudson raced over to help assist on the tackle.
Just as SMU snapped the ball again, the referee blew his whistle to stop play. He’d been buzzed by the replay booth. The hit was under review.
There was contact between Hudson’s helmet and Brown’s. Though no flag was thrown initially, replay decided it was a 15-yard penalty and Hudson was ejected.
“I don’t know, are we going down that road (where) we’re going to review every play in the box?” Harbaugh said after the game, when asked about the play. “Running backs are going to be going through there, they’re going to be lowering their head, and it’s a battle to see who can get lower when you have a runner versus a tackler…. Seems like a really high level of scrutiny to be placing on a play between the tackles.”
Said Metellus: “That’s just football now. That’s the rule.” Metellus would know. He was ejected for targeting in the first quarter of the season-opener against Notre Dame.
Penalties were an issue for Michigan all afternoon against SMU. The Wolverines committed 13 penalties totaling 137 yards.
Michigan was plagued by penalties, most of which came in the second half. The Wolverines were flagged 13 times for 137 yards in the game. Two were on the offense (holding; false start) and three came on punt returns (late hit; illegal formation; holding). The other eight were on the defense: the aforementioned targeting, plus four pass interference calls, two offsides, and a roughing the passer penalty.
“I felt SMU maybe wasn’t able to take advantage of those as much as other teams down the road will, if I’m being frank,” Winovich said.
Winovich is always frank. He’s funny too, like when he described hearing Michigan Stadium public address announcer Carl Grapentine call his name and Hudson’s after a sack, only to have it wiped out by an offsides.
“I’m not calling him out for that one,” Winovich said, declining to remind reporters of the offending teammate. “But that one hurt a little bit.”
The Wolverines had costly penalties against Notre Dame and racked up seven infractions against Western Michigan last week. For the season, Michigan has committed 27 penalties while its opponents have been flagged just 14 times.
“We’ll look at (the penalties), evaluate them, look at the technique, what they’re being taught,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll address them — through coaching, through discipline.”
