Josaiah Stewart and Colston Loveland shined as Michigan picked up a crucial win over Michigan State on Saturday night. Here are this week’s position grades:
The Michigan Wolverines may have been on a skid the previous three weeks, but they came to play on Saturday night, showing the world who owns the in-state rivalry.
Michigan defeated the Michigan State Spartans , 24-17, in what was a back-and-forth affair that could have seen either team come away with the victory. There were miscues, trick plays and big defensive stops. Ultimately, the Wolverines made just enough plays to beat “little brother.”
Let’s get into the position grades.
Quarterbacks: B+
Head coach Sherrone Moore made it around the quarterback carousel and found his way back to Davis Warren. In his first start since Week 3, he threw for 123 yards, a touchdown and had a quarterback rating of 140.2. He missed a few throws, but he did not turn the ball over and made some tough throws.
Alex Orji also deserves major props. He hadn’t seen the field since getting benched in favor of Jack Tuttle against Washington. He made a major impact Saturday night, leading the team in rushing yards with 64 on six carries, and sealing the game with multiple first-down runs on the final drive.
Running backs: C+
The Spartans committed to stopping the Wolverines’ run game, and it worked. It was a tough day on the stat sheet for both of Michigan’s star running backs, as Kalel Mullings finished with 18 yards on 13 carries and Donovan Edwards had 24 yards on nine carries.
Nonetheless, the backs contributed in other big ways. Edwards made a major 15-yard catch at the end of the first half to set up a field goal, while also throwing a 23-yard touchdown to Loveland. Mullings picked up some really solid blocks to help Orji fight for extra yards.
Wide receivers: C+
It wasn’t a major increase, but the wide receivers saw some more action with Warren as QB1 compared to Tuttle and Orji. Warren found Semaj Morgan three times, Tyler Morris for a big 23-yard gain to start the second half, Peyton O’Leary hauled in a 15-yard grab, and Kendrick Bell had a 12-yard reception. It wasn’t show-stopping, but the receivers made some tough catches to move the sticks.
Tight ends: A
Simply put, Loveland is a superstar. He led the team in receiving once again with 67 receiving yards on six catches. He also caught two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. He and Marlin Klein were instrumental in blocking for Orji on his long 29-yard run, setting up Loveland’s touchdown catch from Edwards.
Offensive Line: C
The offensive line has been riddled with injuries all season long, and that continued on Saturday. Left tackle Myles Hinton was back in the starting lineup, but right tackle Andrew Gentry left the game with an injury, bringing back in the former starter, Evan Link.
There was some good and some bad with the line. The Wolverines could not run the ball, but Warren had a relatively clean pocket to throw the ball and was not sacked once. Overall, we expect more out of this unit, but it was a nice bounce back performance after last week’s debacle against Illinois.
Defensive Line: B
At points throughout the game, the Michigan front appeared to play at an A+ level. Josaiah Stewart had a strip-sack on Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles, Cameron Brandt picked up the first sack of his career, Kenneth Grant recovered the Chiles fumble and also made a huge play by tackling Nate Carter on third-and-one, forcing MSU to kick a field goal.
The flip side of that, however, was the Spartans ran for 189 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Carter had 118 yards of those yards and a touchdown. Carter kept MSU in the game, and the run defense needs to be sorted.
Linebackers: B
Much like the defensive line, giving up big runs on third-and-long falls on the first two levels of the defense. Nonetheless, the second-level played well, leading the team in tackles once again — Ernest Hausmann finished with 11 and Jaishawn Barham had nine. In addition, they did a decent job of holding the Spartans’ running backs and tight ends in check in the passing game. There were positive and negatives, but the linebackers came through big time in the win.
Defensive backs: B-
Star cornerback Will Johnson was ruled out before the game, so it was going to be another tall task for the Michigan secondary to make up for his absence. Because of that, the defensive backs played well against Chiles, who completed 17-of-23 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. However, they made some clutch defensive stops on third and fourth down, including a game-sealing pass-breakup in the end zone by Quinten Johnson with less than two minutes to go.
Jyaire Hill had four tackles and one pass breakup, and Aamir Hall had eight tackles. However, it should be noted that Makari Paige missed six tackles, per Pro Football Focus, and had the lowest grade on the team with a 40.6.
Special teams: C+
What is going on with the punting and kicking? Tommy Doman was mediocre once again, averaging just 36.6 yards per punt with a long of 49. Kicker Dominic Zvada made his sole field goal attempt, but Doman fumbled the snap on the team’s first extra point attempt, and Michigan had to convert a two-point conversion later in the game to make up for it. We know what the unit is capable of, but they have to be more consistent moving forward.