Position grades for Michigan’s ferocious 52-7 win over Indiana

The Michigan Wolverines played at home for the first time in two weeks and did not disappoint. While Michigan opened up as 33.5-point favorites over Indiana, the Wolverines found themselves down 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. Despite this, Michigan put up 52 unanswered points, rushing for 163 yards and passing for 244 yards.

Saturday was another contest where after a quarter’s length of adversity, the Wolverines fixed their issues and completely dominated their opponent with little to no resistance. It was a nearly flawless performance for the Wolverines, continuing their streak of not giving up a point in the third quarter.

With another boa constrictor performance, it is no surprise there are high grades to go around in all three phases of the game:

Quarterbacks: A

Even with the rain and wind all afternoon, J.J. McCarthy was near perfect on Saturday in less than three-quarters of work. McCarthy finished 14-of-17 for 222 yards and three touchdowns, and added 10 carries for 27 yards. When McCarthy came out of the game, Jack Tuttle was a perfect 5-for-5 for 22 yards and a touchdown. Since Big Ten play, McCarthy has been on it.

Running backs: B+

Two hours before kickoff, Michigan announced Kalel Mullings would be out with an undisclosed injury, Nonetheless, with a rainy forecast, it was expected the Wolverines would ground and pound against Indiana. Surprisingly, the back with the best individual stats to finish the game was true freshman Ben Hall, who finished with nine carries for 58 yards.

Blake Corum had a modest game in terms of yards, racking up just 52, but did find the end zone twice. Donovan Edwards finally cashed in, scoring his first touchdown of the season as well. Overall, the rushing attack wasn’t amazing, but the three touchdowns make up for the lack of yards.

Wide receivers: B+

McCarthy didn’t need to throw for 300 yards to win this game. However, the wide receivers appeared to be a nonfactor for the most part in Saturday’s contest. That said, freshman Semaj Morgan had another spectacular touchdown, fighting off seven defenders to get into the end zone. Another true freshman, Karmello English, recorded his first career touchdown, which also happened to be his first career catch. Not to mention, sophomore Tyler Morris led the wide receivers in catches (four) and yards (54).

Aside from that, Roman Wilson scored a touchdown but only had three catches for 14 yards, and Cornelius Johnson finished with just one catch for 15 yards. While the top guys didn’t have their best games, the younger guys stepped up to even out the performance.

Tight ends: A

There were a lot of storylines surrounding the tight ends, including A.J. Barner facing off against his former team. While Barner only tallied one catch for 18 yards, he did have a strong day run blocking, contributing to both Corum touchdowns. Colston Loveland had the best day of any of the skill players, finishing with three receptions for 80 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown to start the second half. Max Bredeson also had a fantastic day, leading the way for Michigan’s three rushing touchdowns by laying down pancakes in the end zone.

Overall, the group was flawless aside from Barner’s unsportsmanlike penalty in the first half — which was an egregious call to begin with.

Offensive line: B

The offensive line did not look as cohesive as it did in recent weeks. The line wasn’t producing the usual holes for the running backs and it gave up four sacks, causing McCarthy to take more hits than usual on Saturday. While it isn’t something to be worried about just yet, it is something to make note of as the Wolverines still have to face some tough defensive lines in the upcoming weeks. For now, we will chalk it up to an unusual performance with room for improvement.

Defensive line: A+

While Michigan’s offensive line gave up four sacks, its defensive line produced four sacks of its own. In addition to that, the D-line caused six quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles, and had a near interception by Kenneth Grant. The combination of Mason Graham, Kris Jenkins and Grant on the inside, with Jaylen Harrell, Braiden McGregor, Derrick Moore and Josiah Stewart on the outside makes for a terrifying matchup for any offensive lineman. This defense has given up an average of six points per game, and none in the third quarter this season, and it all starts with the big guys up front.

Linebackers: A

The Michigan linebackers may have had their best game of the season on Saturday. Junior Colson and Ernest Hausmann led the team in tackles with six and five, respectively. Michael Barrett tallied three tackles of his own, including a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Even the backups got involved later in the game, preventing Indiana from scoring in the fourth quarter. While the defensive line was getting constant pressure today, the linebackers equally contributed to the relentless defensive play.

Defensive backs: A

Before the Michigan offense got going, The Michigan defense was under some pressure early in the first quarter, giving up a 44-yard touchdown to Indiana’s Jaylin Lucas on a double throw. Since that play, however, the Wolverine secondary held the Hoosiers to under 100 yards passing for the rest of the game.

Mike Sainristil and Keon Sabb each recorded a pass breakup, and Rod Moore and Sabb both had interceptions. Makari Paige and Josh Wallace finished with four tackles (including 1.5 tackles for loss for Wallace), and Sainristil finished right behind them with three tackles.

Overall, the defensive backs showed their ability to bounce back and handle the third level of the dominant defense.

Special Teams: A

The special teams unit didn’t have too much work to do on Saturday. Punter Tommy Doman punted twice, averaging 36 yards. Kicker James Turner went 6-for-6 in extra points and made one field goal from 28 yards. Even backup kicker, Adam Samaha, got into the game and made his lone extra-point attempt.

As for kick and punt returns, Tyler Morris returned one punt for 27 yards and Jake Thaw returned one punt for 10 yards. Semaj Morgan handled two kickoff returns, going 28 yards on one of them. Overall, the special teams unit was flawless today.