Report Card: Grading Michigan in a 31-6 win over Bowling Green

Grading Michigan football in all facets of a 31-6 over Bowling Green. The Wolverines were good defensively but struggled on offense, especially with turnovers. The U-M offense only ran 44 plays as result, and while the running game was better, there’s still a lot of work to do.

Michigan rushing offense: B-

It wasn’t great, but it was better than it had been in the first two weeks. Michigan senior running back Blake Corum was off and running on his first carry, going for 54 yards and showing the burst we’ve become accustomed to, the wiggle to beat the safeties. That’s as comfortable as we’ve seen him this year. Of his 11 carries, 6 of them were what Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh would call “efficient,” 4 yards or more. For junior Donovan Edwards, 6 of his 9 carries were 4 or more, 5 of them 5-plus yards. It wasn’t dominant, but the starting backs rushed for 151 yards on 25 carries.

Passing offense: D

Turnovers were the only way Bowling Green was going to stay close, and it’s why the Falcons were in the game in the first half. Junior J.J. McCarthy threw a pair of interceptions and missed a wide open Tyler Morris for what should have been a touchdown. He threw for 143 yards, and 105 came on three plays, including a 33-yard touchdown to Roman Wilson. His long play, 50 yards, was a flea flicker touchdown that was underthrown. Grad student Cornelius Johnson made a great play to save McCarthy another pick. Bad games happen — fortunately, McCarthy’s worst came against a bad opponent. Don’t expect many more like this one from No. 9.

Michigan rushing defense: B+

The Michigan tackling wasn’t as sharp, and though the Falcons didn’t run a whole lot, there were too many solid plays. There were runs of 23, 12, and 12, 11, 8, 7, and 7 yards. This was one of the most surprising aspects of the game, though 65 of Bowling Green’s rushing yards came against the backups in the fourth quarter. Still, Colorado State only averaged 2.9 yards per carry when the sack yardage was eliminated, so there wasn’t a ton of room to move.

Passing defense: B+

Michigan defensive backs got beat over the top a few times, including two long gainers of 30 and 33 yards on well thrown balls in the first quarter. Camden Orth was solid — it would have been interesting to see how the game would have played out had Orth not gotten hurt. The Falcons had no passing game at all with third stringer Hayden Timosciek in the game. Senior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins‘ screen pass interception all but sealed the win, and edge Jaylen Harrell‘s pressure on that and forced fumble were huge plays in the game.

Michigan special teams: A-

Only Michigan tight end Max Bredeson’s fumble was a negative here. James Turner nailed a 42-yard field goal, and junior Tommy Doman was outstanding punting again. He averaged 46.3 yards on three kicks, and he also put all his kickoffs through the end zone. Sophomore Tyler Morris notched a nice, 22-yard punt return, as well.

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