Michigan Football: Grading the Wolverines' Game vs. Minnesota

The last time Michigan beat a Big Ten team by more than 58 points was back in 1975. The Wolverines, who were led by freshman quarterback Rick Leach, punished Northwestern, 69-0.

Like Denard Robinson, Leach was a highly effective dual-threat quarterback. Actually, he was a triple-threat, as he later spent 10 seasons in Major League Baseball.

No one has asked Robinson to hit a curve ball, but he practically does everything else for the Wolverines. Against Minnesota, he only carried the ball six times, thanks to a fine performance by his offensive line and running backs. 

A little trickery didn't hurt, either. On several occasions, Robinson was joined in the backfield by backup quarterback Devin Gardner—as if Minnesota needed anymore problems.

Before we make our reservations for the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis, let's check out the grades for Michigan's dominating performance. 

Quarterbacks

Denard Robinson played his usual strong game, hopefully quieting some of his doubters with a strong passing performance.  

 “I don’t read the newspaper anyhow, but I just went to practice, and I knew we had to work on just getting our timing right, and getting in rhythm." Robinson told reporters at the post-game press conference. "That’s the biggest thing. We got in rhythm today, and that’s what happened.”

Michigan coach Brady Hoke was first to defend Denard. “Yeah. We’re going to make it through. He throws the ball well, and we like how he throws the ball," Hoke said. "He set his feet well and we ran good routes and completed some balls." 

What was really intriguing about Saturday's win was not that Devin Gardner got some reps at quarterback—it's that he and Denard were in the game at the same time.

Playing those two simultaneously brings a new set of challenges to the defense, and Minnesota would probably say enough's enough.

Grade: B+ 

Running Backs

Michigan isn't any closer to finding its one "feature" back, but several backs seem to be producing the desired results.  

Including both quarterbacks, seven backs carried the ball. Fitzgerald Toussaint looks the role of the go-to power back, but freshman Thomas Rawls appears like he could play the part,  as could Stephen Hopkins, even though he had only one carry.

If what he did Saturday is any indication, someone is going to slap the "all-purpose" tag on Vincent Smith in a hurry.  “He does everything you want him to do, when you look at him as a football player and how he prepares and his toughness," Hoke said. "All those things that—Vince is a guy that you can count on."

Grade: A- 

Receivers

One of the few real problems of late has been Robinson's inability to locate his wide receivers.

Against Minnesota, Robinson, Smith and Gardner all took their turns finding receivers. All told, eight different Wolverines caught passes.

Robinson had an excellent throwing day, completing 15-of-19 for 169 yards and a pair of scores. Robinson, too, is aware of the concerns. “Oh yeah. I mean, we’ve been practicing getting it down with the receivers, and we were just on the same page," Robinson said. 

Both tight end Kevin Koger and wide receiver Drew Dileo caught their second touchdown passes of the season. 

Junior Vincent Smith threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dileo, scored on a three-yard run and caught a 28-yard throwback screen for another touchdown. 

If Robinson has a similar passing day at Northwestern, one more problem will be solved.

Grade: B+  

Offensive Line

Any offensive lineman would look at 363 yards rushing as a good day at the office.

Producing a sustained rushing attack by anyone not named Robinson has been difficult for Michigan all season. 

But Saturday seemed to be the best day for the line this fall.

Even without Ricky Barnum, Michigan had no trouble controlling the line of scrimmage. 

Left tackle Taylor Lewan led the way as Michigan successfully ran to the left all afternoon.

Both quarterbacks had time to throw, as Lewan, Patrick Omameh, Michael Schofield, David Molk and Mark Huyge allowed just one quarterback sack.

Grade: A-

Defensive Line

Statistics sometimes speak for themselves.

Michigan's defense set the tone in the first quarter, holding the Gophers to negative-one yard rushing and four total yards. Much of this can be attributed to better pressure from the defensive line.   

“I think (Coach) Jerry Montgomery has done a tremendous job with our front," Coach Hoke said at the post-game press conference."The pride that a guy like Van Bergen or Martin have in how they play is a big part of it." 

Defensive ends Jibreel Black and Ryan Van Bergen each recorded a sack and end Craig Roh notched a tackle-for-loss.

Grade: B+ 

Linebackers

Cam Gordon and Brandon Herron continue to be missing from the linebacking corps.

All three starters, fortunately, are continuing their their stellar play.

Kenny Demens has been the anchor between the two rookies,

Demens had five tackles, Brandin Hawthorne had three and Jake Ryan came up with a sack.

Michigan's defense held Minnesota to just eight first downs, 73 yards rushing and only 104 yards passing. 

Grade: B

Secondary

Last season, cornerback Courtney Avery was pressed into service as a true freshman.

This season, freshman Blake Countess has wound up getting plenty of playing time.

Avery, of course, can relate to Countess jumping from high school ball into college.

"It is a lot of difference. A lot of people don’t really realize the big jump that it is," Avery said. "The game’s a lot faster, the receivers are a lot faster, but you get comfortable. I see Blake—Blake’s doing a really good job. He seems really comfortable out there, and he’s doing a great job, and he’s going to continue to improve.”

With everyone healthy, the cornerback position is becoming a real strength. Troy Woolfolk and J.T. Floyd have returned from serious 2010 injuries, Avery is back for his sophomore season and Countess and Gregg Brown are playing as true freshmen.

Avery put the exclamation point on Saturday's win by scooping up a fumble and taking it 83 yards for a touchdown.

Grade: B+ 

Special Teams

It's quite an understatement, but Brendan Gibbons struggled last year as one of Michigan's two field goal kickers.

He made only one of five attempts, his longest being a 24-yarder.

Saturday, Gibbons was three-for-three, connecting from 25, 32 and 38 yards. For the season, he's four- for-five—an impressive 80 percent.

Will Hagerup came back from his four-game suspension but punted only twice. The Wolverines continued to struggle covering kickoffs, as Minnesota was credited with two returns over 30 yards. A couple more were brought back by penalty. 

Grade: B

Coaching

All Brady Hoke and his his staff have done is win the first five games.

They've transformed the worst defense in the country to one that's getting more and more respect every day.  

Michigan ranked 108th in points allowed the NCAA last season, allowing 35.2 points-per-game. Today, they rank fourth, allowing 10.25 points-per game.

Hoke and his staff are making strategic moves every week. One week it's new blitz packages, the next week it's a two-headed quarterback.

That's right, Devin Gardner and Denard Robinson were lined up in a variation of the old double-wing formation.  Gardner was under center, with Smith and Robinson on the wings and Toussaint at tailback.    

"We've had that since fall camp" Hoke said. "It's things you work on and you work on it for a couple days and then you put it away so when it comes back out the kids know."

Grade: A

Intangibles

With each passing Saturday, the memories of that bowl game in Jacksonville seem ever more distant.

Gone is the talk about extra practice time and NCAA probation. 

Gone, too, are the naysayers from Morgantown, East Lansing and even Columbus.

Respect is now the name of the game, and Michigan is earning more with each winning performance. 

Sure it's early, but seeing Michigan as the No. 12 team in the nation is certainly gratifying. The Wolverines are now a Big Ten contender, not a laughed-at pretender. 

You could see it in the players' faces as they paraded around the Big House with the LIttle Brown Jug.

Of course, the Wolverines are destined to lose their first Big Ten game soon, whether it's at Northwestern, Michigan State or even Iowa.  

There's one thing for sure, however—the days of the late-season collapse are over.

Grade: B+ 

I've been fortunate to get a vote in Bleacher Report's own "Top 25" poll, Check it out and tell us what you think.

Note: All quotes attributed to Brady Hoke are from the Michigan Sports Network postgame show. 

Players quotes are from their post-game press conference, courtesy of the University of Michigan.