Report Card: Grading Michigan in a 35-7 win over UNLV
Grading Michigan football in all facets of a 35-7 win over UNLV. The Wolverines were outstanding again defensively, and junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy elite for the second straight week in victory … but what about the running game? The grades:
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Michigan rushing offense: C
Not good enough. Last week, the men up front and the backs got a pass after ECU sold out to stop the run. This week, they had a tougher time than they should have against an undersized line that yeah, brought a few more guys in the box on occasion, but hardly sold out. There were yards to be gained, but not enough push at times, missed assignments at others. The longest Michigan run — 26 yards — came on a reverse to grad receiver Cornelius Johnson. Senior Blake Corum averaged 5.3 yards per carry and had a 19-yarder … the third-longest run was a 17-yard draw by junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy. There’s a lot to clean up.
Passing offense: A+
McCarthy was next level again, completing 22 of 25 passes for 278 yards with 2 touchdowns in less than three quarters. His throws were on the money again, and the protection was good. He wasn’t close to getting sacked for a second straight week. Sophomore Tyler Morris showed why he was hyped in the offseason, catching 3 passes for 40 yards on three targets and running crisp routes, and the veterans — Johnson and senior Roman Wilson — were very good for the second straight week. Wilson is emerging as the big play guy we thought he could be … two more touchdowns, one for 13 yards, one for 47 on which he turned on the jets.
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Michigan rushing defense: A
Absolutely dominant in the three quarters in which the ones and twos played. UNLV ran for 55 yards in the fourth quarter against the Michigan third- and fourth-string defense — the Rebels managed only 6 yards in three quarters before that with sack yardage included. UNLV managed one designed run of more than two yards before a 21-yarder on the option in the third quarter, and that was a 3-yard carry. The Michigan front seven has been as advertised against the run, both the interior and on the edges.
Passing defense: A+
UNLV quarterback Doug Brumfield completed only 10 of 19 passes for 100 yards in three quarters, stifled in part by the Michigan pass rush. He rarely had time to throw and was sacked 5 times. The Wolverines’ secondary notched 3 pass break-ups and kept the ball in front of them. The fourth quarter against the threes and fours was disappointing — at the same time, the starters accomplished what they did minus corner Will Johnson (except for a few plays) and starting safeties Rod Moore and Makari Paige.
Michigan special teams: C+
A running into the punter penalty negated a nice 24-yard return for Morris, junior Tommy Doman had a kick go out of bounds to start the UNLV offense at the 35-yard line on one series, and the Rebels’ Jacob De Jesus notched a 22-yard punt return after a missed tackle. Those were the negatives, and they could have hurt against a better team. The positives — Doman punted the ball extremely well, senior Kalel Mullings notched a 26-yard kick return, and Jake Thaw split defenders for a 19-yard punt return in the third quarter to give Michigan good field position at its own 36. Doman was also good on his other kickoffs — all were touchbacks.
