We take a look back this morning at what went right and what all went wrong for the Michigan Wolverines' football team in Saturday's loss to Penn State. The coaching and performance of U-M's team were both subpar once again this weekend, though there were a few bright spots we've singled out as well.
It was another all-around disappointing performance that we've summed up below in this season's sixth edition of "Monday Morning Quarterback."
Key Moment of the Game:
On a second-and-goal play from the PSU five-yard line late in the first quarter, redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara picked up three yards on a run to get down to the Nittany Lion two-yard line.
He was tackled hard on the play though and injured his shoulder. We didn't know how impactful the injury would be on the rest of the game, but it wound up stalling U-M's offense completely.
Redshirt sophomore Joe Milton was forced to play on Michigan's next series and later in the game while McNamara remained on the sidelines, with the latter's shoulder tightening up significantly.
The Wolverines' offense was all but dead in the water from that point on, with the redshirt freshman clearly not able to operate effectively as a quarterback due to the injury.
His passes weren't as accurate as they had been prior to getting hurt, and his throws didn't have the same steam on them as they previously did. McNamara getting hurt was worst case scenario coming in in a lot of ways, and that's unfortunately exactly how it played out.
Three Things That Worked
1. Hassan Haskins' Effectiveness
The redshirt sophomore running back was one of the few bright spots once again, rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 5.9 yards per carry. He consistently broke tackles, gained yards after contact and appeared to be one of the lone players on the team who actually had interest in competing at a high level.
2. Jake Moody's Return
Fifth-year senior kicker Quinn Nordin was out with injury and junior Jake Moody handled all the kicking duties as a result. He connected on both of his extra points and nailed a 40-yard field goal, marking his first make since the win over Notre Dame last season on Oct. 26.
3. A Lack of Penalties
Michigan has been heavily penalized this season, but that wasn't the case on Saturday. The Wolverines committed a season-low one penalty, symbolizing one of the few positive takeaways from an all-around horrendous performance.
Three Things That Didn't Work
1. Rush Defense
Michigan allowed what had been Penn State's fourth-string running back entering the year, freshman Keyvone Lee, to tear it up for 134 yards and a touchdown, in by far the best game of his career. The U-M defense had no clue how to slow down PSU's rushing attack (they rushed for 254 yards) and didn't show much interest in tackling throughout the afternoon either.
2. The Offensive Play as a Whole
Haskins was the only glimmer of hope for U-M's offense, accounting for 101 of the team's 286 total yards. The passing attack was nonexistent, and Josh Gattis and the Michigan coaches didn't seem to have any idea how to attack a PSU defense that had allowed at least 30 points in all five of its games entering the weekend.
3. Pride
This has become one of the entries in this category every week, due to the way the players and coaches are seemingly fine with embarrassing themselves and the University on a weekly basis. The way the team fails to get any better makes one wonder what in the world goes on all week in practice, and what the heck these players are being taught by the staff behind closed doors.
Position-by-Position Battles
Michigan's offensive line vs. Penn State's front seven
The Michigan ground game at least showed life for a second straight week, rushing for 174 yards and averaging 6.4 yards per carry. Haskins was the primary reason for the ground success, though the offensive line also limited to PSU to no sacks and just three tackles for loss.
Penn State's offensive line vs. Michigan's front seven
Michigan's pass rush received a boost with the return of senior defensive end Kwity Paye, though that unfortunately didn't help in slowing down the Nittany Lions' running game. The front seven was consistently shredded on the ground all afternoon long, and only compiled one sack and two tackles for loss.
Michigan's wide receivers vs. Penn State's secondary
U-M's wideouts were largely nonexistent on the day (junior Ronnie Bell was the leading receiver with just 40 yards), but a large reason for that was due to the fact they didn't have anyone to get them the ball effectively (McNamara was hurt and Milton has regressed). The highlight of the game from the receivers was when freshman A.J. Henning reeled in a beautiful 28-yard leaping grab in traffic.
Penn State's wide receivers vs. Michigan's secondary
Michigan actually did a good job of slowing down star PSU junior receiver Jahan Dotson, limiting him to three catches for 30 yards. Freshman Parker Washington went off for a career-high nine catches and 93 yards though, while Penn State largely attacked on the ground as opposed to through the air.
Quarterbacks
Penn State clearly had the better quarterbacks, with redshirt junior Sean Clifford rushing for 73 yards and a touchdown and consistently burning U-M on the ground. He also went an efficient 17-of-28 through the air with no turnovers. McNamara, on the other hand, only completed 12 of his 25 passes for 91 yards, while Milton connected on just one of his three attempts.
Running backs
This area was at least more comparable, but PSU's rushers outshined Haskins and Michigan's. We discussed Lee's career game above, while freshman Caziah Holmes added 34 yards of his own. Fifth-year senior Chris Evans was U-M's second leading rusher, compiling 35 yards on 8.8 yards per carry.
Special teams
We saw some good from U-M (Moody's field goal) in this area, and some bad (sophomore receiver Mike Sainristil's dropped punt that led to a PSU field goal). Redshirt junior punter Brad Robbins was well under his season average as well, only averaging 37.3 yards on four punts. PSU, meanwhile, connected on two of its three field goals, but most importantly, didn't make any crucial errors on special teams — like turning the ball over — the way Michigan did.
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