Michigan Wolverines Football: Report Card Grades for the Northwestern Game

Denard Robinson recovered from an error-prone first half to lead No. 12 Michigan to a 42-24 victory at Northwestern Saturday night. Robinson, who threw three interceptions before intermission, led Michigan back from a 24-14 halftime deficit.

Robinson finished the game with 17 completions on 26 attempts for 337 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball 25 times for 117 yards and two scores.

The Wolverines (6-0, 2-0) capitalized on three Northwestern turnovers to score 28 unanswered points in the second half. Northwestern (2-3, 0-2), which moved the ball easily against Michigan in the opening quarters, failed to get anything going in the second half. An interception and a fumble ended a pair of Northwestern drives.

The Wildcats, who had 297 total yards in the first half, could muster only 141 in the second.  

Michigan displayed plenty of resiliency, but there's still definitely room for improvement.  

Let's check out the letter grades for Michigan's comeback victory.

Offense

Michigan continues to be one-dimensional at times. It's seems like Denard right or Denard left. In the first half, Robinson forced some passes, but thankfully settled down after intermission.  

Coach Brady Hoke still sees Robinson's passing as a work in progress.

"He made some great throws," Hoke said."He's a tremendous football player and he just let the ball float a little bit on him a couple times—just overshot it—that's fundamentals and techniques and things that we have to constantly talk about."

Other than Robinson, Michigan's rushing game remains a concern. Fitzgerald Toussaint gained only 25 yards on 14 carries, Michael Shaw had six carries for 25 yards and Vincent Smith finished with eight yards on three carries.

Michigan's first touchdown, a nine-yard toss from Robinson to fifth-year senior Steve Watson, was Watson's first career reception.  

Backup quarterback Devin Gardner hit both of his passes in limited duty.

Grade: B+

Defense

With each passing week, it gets tougher to run on the Wolverines. 

Northwestern was already at a disadvantage since its feature back, Mike Trumpy, was lost for the season last week. Against the Wolverines, Northwestern could manage just 107 yards rushing—only five in the second half.

One key to Michigan's rushing defense was its ability to prevent the big play.  The longest run from scrimmage was a 23-yard scamper by Adonis Smith.

Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa, who is still hampered by last season's Achilles injury, completed 32-of-44 passes for 331 yards.

He was also sacked four times and hurried on three occasions.

Middle linebacker Kenny Demens led Michigan with 10 tackles while Brandin Hawthorne continued his excellent play with nine. 

Demens, Jordan Kovacs and Will Campbell had one sack apiece, while the fourth was shared by Craig Roh and Ryan Van Bergen. 

Grade: B-

Special Teams

Will Hagerup punted only once, while Brandan Gibbons had his only field goal attempt blocked.

Matt Wile continues to show some improvement on kickoffs.  With seven tries, he had three touchbacks, but one of his kicks went out of bounds.

Martavious Odoms ran a kickoff back 25 yards.

Grade: B

Coaching

If nothing else, Brady Hoke was a patient man at halftime Saturday night.

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"We said what it was. We were down 10 points." Hoke told the press afterwards. "We had thrown three interceptions for one reason or another, we'd had three penalties on ourselves offensively, we were not getting off blocks on the back end defensively, and that's what it was. That's kind of what we talked about, nothing more, and we talked about how we want to be as a Michigan football team."

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Also credit defensive coordinator Greg Mattison pushing the right buttons. His defense stepped up in the second half, forcing a pair of turnovers and frustrating Northwestern's running game.

Grade: A-

Overall

Defensively, Michigan keeps improving against the run, but continues to struggle against the pass. 

The Wolverines have struggled getting to the passer early in the game, but have increased the pressure as the game progresses.

Coach Mattison has found a consistant formula. First, a variety of blitzes helps pressure the quarterback, then the defensive front takes over.

Offensively, Denard Robinson continues to dominate the running game. Against Northwestern, he carried the ball an alarming 25 times while the other backs combined for the same number of carries. 

Coach Hoke promised to keep the pressure off Robinson by establishing more of a power running game.

But considering Michigan's success thus far,  it might be something we can all overlook. 

Grade: B+

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