Michigan Football: Grading the Wolverines After Their Loss

The instate battle between Michigan and Michigan State happened today in East Lansing, and much like the last three years Michigan State slowly took control of the game and pushed the Wolverines around in the trenches.

The Spartan's number one ranked total defense looked every bit of it during the game as the Wolverines failed to pick up blitzes and open holes in the run game.  On the other side of the ball Michigan failed to stop what had to this point been a disappointing MSU rushing offense.

How do the Wolverine's grade out in this one?  Not good, but let's look deeper to assess just where Brady Hoke's team failed.

Offense

Michigan entered the game with the seventh ranked rushing offense in the country.  You wouldn't have guessed that watching today's game.

Up to this point in the season Michigan's grab bag of offensive playcalls has found success to the tune of 491 yards per game.  Against Michigan State it just looked like Michigan lacked offensive identity.

The Wolverines were held to 250 yards of total offense and never once put together anything approaching a respectable drive after the opening 80 yard touchdown drive.

Credit for this goes entirely to the Michigan State front seven, which threw together a suffocating mix of blitzes and tight man coverage.  Michigan State's defensive line controlled the game from early on, limiting Michigan to just 2.3 yards per rush and was constantly in the backfield on the way to registering seven sacks for 62 negative yards.

In the passing game Michigan's quarterback Denard Robinson never settled down because of the pressure and managed just 5.1 yards per attempt on 9/24 passing for 123 yards.  Devin Gardner, the backup quarterback, got a number of snaps in the game and was scarcely better: just 3/7 for 45 yards.

Michigan had ample opportunities in Michigan State territory because of a number of Spartan personal fouls, but wasn't able to convert; had two opportunities late in the fourth quarter to tie the game which ended in a sack on fourth down and a pick six; and had a 20 percent conversion rate on third down.

There is no other way to grade it, Michigan's offense never had a chance in this one.

Grade: F

Defense

The Michigan defense was the biggest question coming into this game, and it held up surprisingly well.

Michigan State was only able to score three offensive touchdowns, and didn't have one play longer than 25 yards --- a stark contrast to the multiple 40+ yard plays in last years game.

Michigan State was only able to complete half of its third down opportunities and Kirk Cousins was held largely in check, throwing for just 5 yards per pass on just over a 50 percent completion rate for 120 yards.

The biggest problems the Wolverines ran into were edge contain in the run game and tackling --- not new problems for those following the team over the past few years.

Michigan State's two touchdowns in the second half both came on plays where Keshawn Martin was able to shake a tackle near the sideline and get to the endzone.  Furthermore, MIchigan routinely let Spartan back Edwin Baker get to the corner which led to his strongest day of the year: 167 yards, 6.4 ypc, and a touchdown.

The Wolverines were much improved, and holding the Spartan offense to 21 points should have been enough, especially with two heads up plays to jump on fumbles and set the offense up with good field position, but there were too many missed tackles and runs bounced outside to give this unit a vote of confidence.  Until these problems get fixed the Wolverines aren't going to be able to shut teams down and bail out an under performing offense.

Grade: C

Special Teams

The special teams game was largely a wash in the game --- a definite advantage for the Wolverines.

Nick Hill, Michigan State's kickoff returner had helped lead the Spartans to a national ranking of tenth in kick returns, but in his two chances he was held to an average of just 20 yards.  Although to be fair, Michigan did nothing with the kick returns it was offered.

In the punt game Michigan did an excellent job pinning Michigan State deep in its own territory, and may well have kept the game as close as it was.  After a disappointing return after his suspension, Will Hagerup punted four times inside the 20 yard line, and it could have been a fifth had Josh Furman made a play to knock the ball back from the goal line instead of falling on it as he slid into the endzone.

Overall the kicking and returning game was largely even, and if nothing else it broke in Michigan's favor in the field position battle.  What could have been the most dangerous aspect of the game for the Wolverines was a net positive.

Grade: A

Coaching

If there was one area where Michigan suffered the most, it was coaching.  

Brady Hoke and staff had done a great job getting the team out of early ruts and taking over games in the second half, but in this game Michigan came out and looked ineffectual in the second half.

Both Michigan lines looked overwhelmed against Michigan State, which was somewhat expected against a stout MSU defense, but is troubling to see against what has been to this point a bad MSU offensive line.

Furthermore the offensive playcalling was unimaginative, the constant running in and out of quarterbacks made it impossible for either to gain any comfort in the passing game, and there were a few conversion opportunities that were wasted either by calling for a punt or telegraphing a play.

After a scorching first drive the Wolverines were unable to find any success on the ground against constant Michigan State pressure by a seven or eight men in the box.

Michigan had a number of opportunities to cut the lead and tie the game, and failed to capitalize on all of them despite the Spartans nearly giving the game away with a number of bad personal foul penalties.

This failure of the Wolverines falls somewhat on Denard Robinson's inability to settle down and make throws and the line's inability to give him ample protection, but the bulk of the blame lands on a coaching staff that failed to adjust to the pressure that Michigan State consistently showed.

Grade: D

Overall Grade

This team has a long way to go, but we knew that.

The problem is, many forgot it after a blazing 6-0 start --- not exactly a new phenomena in the Michigan football universe.

The reasonable ceiling for this team was always eight wins, and the optimistic goal was ten and a Big Ten Legend's championship.  This is still in play.  Michigan State has a tough road ahead and despite a very talented defense, offensive issues still remain.  If Michigan wins out it has as good a chance as anyone to win the Legend's division.

However, today showed what happens when a team in the first year under a new head coach meets a team with an established identity and a solid grasp of itself and its schemes.

Michigan was the second best team on the field this Saturday, but with a bye week and a game against Purdue at home the Wolverines could very well iron out the offensive issues that hurt the team in this game and make a run at the Big Ten championship game.  However, this kind of effort will not suffice.

Overall grade: C-