Michigan Football: 5 Underrated Aspects of Wolverines 2015 Success

Offensive skill-position players get all the glory, but the Michigan football team received important contributions from a handful of underrated pieces.

The men in the trenches rarely receive credit for doing the dirty work, and non-regular defensive stats don't always see the spotlight. Oh, and punters? Yeah, they're people, too.

Following a relatively impressive 9-3 regular season, Jake Rudock, Jehu Chesson, Amara Darboh, Jourdan Lewis and Jabrill Peppers garnered plenty of deserved praise.

But these are the stats that and players who played significant roles in helping the Wolverines achieve that success.

Blake O'Neill's Efficient Punting

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It's a shame Blake O'Neill will be remembered for dropping a snap against Michigan State, because the graduate transfer was otherwise excellent for the Wolverines.

He tallied 41.3 yards per punt, deadening 23 inside the 20-yard line yet registering only four touchbacks. Plus, 14 of the attempts resulted in a fair catch—more than doubling 2014's numbers.

Michigan's coverage unit allowed 11.5 yards per return, but that wasn't on O'Neill for outkicking his gunners.

Rutgers' 67-yard return should've been stopped after 15 yards. Indiana returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown, but Mitchell Paige escaped from what should've been two sure tackles.

Eliminate those two mistakes, and O'Neill helped the Wolverines allow fewer than five yards per return. That'd be a top-25 mark nationally.

Red-Zone Touchdown Percentages

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Not only was an opponent reaching the red zone a rare occurrence, the Wolverines regularly limited teams to field goals. Michigan forced offenses into 13 field goals on 31 trips inside the 20-yard line. That 42 percent success rate was third-best in the country.

For example, Minnesota kicked three field goals within 35 yards. The defense's ability to hold the Gophers out of the end zone was one of the biggest factors in the 29-26 win.

On other side of the football, a 93.9 red-zone scoring clip ranked No. 4 nationally. Best of all for the Wolverines, that number dropped slightly because of clock-killing drives where more points weren't the objective.

Michigan took advantage of scoring opportunities and regularly limited opponents to field goals. That's a winning combination.

Opponent's Average Third-Down Distance

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Michigan finished the regular season with a 25.6 percent opponent conversion percentage, earning a place as the nation's No. 3 third-down defense.

But that level of dominance doesn't happen without success on earlier snaps. The Wolverines forced offenses into an average distance of 7.6 yards to go.

Good luck converting that on a regular basis.

Just one team—Ohio State (53.9)—faced third downs with a median distance of less than six yards. It should come as no surprise that the Buckeyes were the only opponent to convert more than 36 percent of third-down situations.

The defense's primary objective is to get off the field. Thanks to early-down wins, Michigan typically excelled when that chance arrived.

Offensive Line's Strength: Pass Blocking

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The team's overall lack of success on the ground overshadowed the offensive line's collective ability to protect Jake Rudock.

One year after allowing 26 sacks and watching Devin Gardner sprint away from many others, Michigan ceded eight fewer sacks in 58 more pass attempts.

By no means is the school record book a perfect measurement, but Rudock is on pace for the second-best single-season total in program history. He only needs 222 yards in the bowl game to rise from No. 5.

Mason Cole, Ben Braden, Graham Glasgow, Kyle Kalis and Erik Magnuson each started 12 games, but only Glasgow runs out of eligibility. The pass-protection unit will once again be solid next year.

Limiting Points off Turnovers

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Turnovers are going to happen at some point, but the key is how a team responds.

Considering the Wolverines ceded just 22 points off turnovers throughout the season, they bounced back particularly well. Amazingly, actually.

Additionally, since one interception was a pick-six and Michigan State took the botched punt—which counts as a fumble—to the house, the defense truly allowed a mere nine points after turnovers.

As if Michigan wasn't already hard enough to score on, teams couldn't even capitalize on favorable field position. The Wolverines were downright spectacular at responding to turnovers.

All recruiting information via 247Sports. Stats from cfbstats.com or B/R research using NCAA play-by-play data. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Bleacher Report CFB Writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.