Position grades from Michigan Football’s win vs Penn State

Michigan put a bad first half in the rearview mirror and got the Tommy Carr era started with a 21-18 victory over Penn State for its first win in Big Ten play. Here’s a look at how each position group fared in the victory.

Quarterback – B-

Bryce Underwood picked right back up where he left off before the bye week, coming out with a really bad first half in which he completed 5-of-11 passes for 43 yards and two interceptions. Beyond his inability to read the field and get the ball where it needed to be, it was clear early on the coaching staff doesn’t trust him, and it was even more clear when he was benched at halftime.

In the second half, Michigan turned to Tommy Carr and the energy totally flipped for the whole team. Carr was at the wheel for all 21 points scored in the second half and showed some great signs as a passer and a runner. It’s clear he’ll be the guy going forward, but a tough task awaits him next week against Indiana.

Running Back – B+

Michigan had Jordan Marshall, Savion Hiter and Bryson Kuzdzal all get involved with a combined 27 carries. Kuzdzal provided the biggest play of the day with a 43-yard run for Michigan’s first touchdown of the day, the longest run of the season for any Wolverine, while Marshall had a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Hiter also broke free for a 41-yard gain in the fourth quarter.

Bottom line, the run game got going downhill a bit more in the second half and looked excellent, something to keep an eye on going forward.

Wide Receiver – C-

Michigan’s wide receivers were rather quiet, but the passing game as a whole wasn’t really relied upon that much with Underwood and Carr combining for just 18 pass attempts. Andrew Marsh had three receptions for 21 yards while JJ Buchanan had three receptions for 36 yards. There’ll be better days ahead for this group, but Saturday wasn’t a great one.

Tight End – D+

As has been tradition for six games now, Michigan’s tight ends weren’t featured all that much in the pass attack. Hogan Hansen did get the start again and appears to have a stranglehold on that spot now. He finished with two receptions for 31 yards. Perhaps the tight end spot evolves a bit more with Carr leading the offense, but that doesn’t seem like a safe bet.

Offensive Line – B-

The offensive line’s ability to get a push seemed to come in spurts throughout the game. Early on, the Wolverines continued to try to run slow developing run plays and exploit the edges, but without much success. The runs were more between the tackles in the second half, which worked a bit better, especially on Kuzdzal’s long run. The line did do a pretty good job of keeping the quarterbacks clean, holding Penn State to no hurries and one sack.

Defensive Line – C-

Michigan’s defensive line didn’t have its best day against the run or the pass. It allowed Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht to get pretty comfortable and take his time on plenty of throws. And while Penn State also only averaged 2.2 yards per carry, the Nittany Lions were able to run the ball in spurts throughout the game to keep drives going. We’ve seen better from this group throughout the year, and we’ll see better down the stretch.

Linebacker – C

The defensive line wasn’t alone in allowing Penn State’s running backs, particularly Carson Hansen, to find some success. The linebackers were guilty as well, but didn’t allow much over the middle of the field in the pass game, while also preventing Becht from having any success scrambling. Troy Bowles had 10 tackles, while Nathaniel Staehling was right behind him with nine.

Defensive Backs – C-

For much of the day, Becht looked pretty comfortable in the pocket and was easily able to find windows to hit his receivers. Even when the windows weren’t there, his receivers were routinely beating Michigan’s defensive backs on 50-50 balls. Becht had 267 yards through the air, while Chase Sowell had 11 receptions for 151 yards and one touchdown.

It wasn’t all bad for the secondary, though, as it did force two interceptions in the third quarter, one from Rod Moore and another by Chris Bracy. Moore’s pick was particularly important, as it set up Michigan in good field position to score its first touchdown. Bracy also had a forced fumble in the fourth quarter and gave Michigan great field position at the end of the game, allowing the offense to put a game-icing touchdown on the board with just three minutes to play.

Special Teams – A-

It was a pretty uneventful day in the special teams department for Michigan, which can only be viewed as a positive. We did see freshman Salesi Moa get his first start as the punt returner, but he had just one return for nine yards. Cam Brown didn’t have his best day punting, averaging just 36.7 yards per attempt. The hands team also executed a perfect recovery of a late onside attempt from Penn State to seal the win. Again, uneventful is a good thing.

Coaching – B

Michigan put itself in a better position to win this game than it has in its previous games. Even if the execution wasn’t perfect from the coordinators, credit to Kyle Whittingham for pulling the trigger and going to Carr when it did, especially since it won his team this game. The program took a step in the right direction in this one, but it still has work to do with a big matchup against the defending Big Ten and national champions on deck.