Report Card: Grading Michigan in a 51-7 win over CSU
Grading Michigan football in all facets of a 51-7 win over Colorado State:
Michigan rushing offense: B
Yes, Michigan ran for 234 yards. But honestly — we expected a bit more, and for the offensive line to be a bit more dominant. There were no explosive runs other than sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s two big ones, including one for a 20-yard touchdown. He adds an element to the offense that can’t be denied.
The backs were impatient at times, but junior Blake Corum (76 yards) and Donovan Edwards (64 yards) combined for 140 yards, and frosh C.J. Stokes even averaged 5.8 yards per carry. We expected the long run to be longer than 19 yards (Corum), but the offensive line was patchwork. Grad student left tackle Ryan Hayes sat for precautionary reasons with an injury, and his replacement, Karsen Barnhart, missed most of the game after injuring his ankle.
Still — room for improvement.
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Passing offense: C-
Senior Cade McNamara looked nervous out of the gate, missing some throws. Receivers dropped balls, including grad student Ronnie Bell and senior Cornelius Johnson, and senior tight end Erick All slipped on a route. McNamara improved as the game went on, but there were no shots downfield from either him or sophomore J.J. McCarthy. They both checked down when the deep ball wasn’t there, though, and took what the defense gave them.
Junior Roman Wilson provided the only explosive play on a 65-yard swing pass, with a great block from Bell. But again — there should have been more explosive plays from a deep and talented receiving corps. It didn’t help that the pass protection was leaky, at times.
Michigan rushing defense: B+
Sack yardage played a part in holding Colorado State to 2.1 yards per carry, but its top two backs managed only 62 yards. Still, the Rams grossed 134 yards on the ground and their line seemed to get push on a number of carries. It seemed as though they could have had more success if they’d stuck with it, but they went with their “air raid” approach throughout.
Sophomore linebacker Junior Colson had a game, leading the defense with 10 tackles. But again — some room for improvement from the Michigan run stoppers. We’ll see how they fare against a team determined to run the ball.
Passing defense: A-
Huge assist to the pass rushers, who notched 7 sacks and hounded quarterback Clay Millen much of the day. Crazy stat, however — he completed 80 percent of his passes (16 of 20 with a touchdown). He had one downfield pass, beating frosh corner Will Johnson for a 34-yard touchdown to end the shutout bid. Otherwise, much of the damage came on underneath routes.
Credit to the Michigan defensive backs, too, for forcing a few coverage sacks. The pass rush helped on sophomore Rod Moore’s first-quarter interception, as well. The rush and defensive backfield complemented each other well.
Michigan special teams: A
The return game was held in check by a Colorado State team determined to kick away from the return guys. Coverage teams were outstanding, as was punter Brad Robbins. He averaged 47 yards on his two kicks.
Grad student Jake Moody did his thing — again. He made all three of his field goals, was outstanding on kickoffs and took a step toward defending his Lou Groza Award (nation’s top kicker).
Special teams will be a strength all year.
