Report Card: Grading Michigan Football's 40-21 Win Over MTSU

Grading Michigan in all phases of a 40-21 win over Middle Tennessee State:

Michigan freshman Zach Charbonnet surprisingly got the starting nod, and he looked the part. He showed a burst and great feet in galloping for 90 yards on eight carries, including a 41-yarder in which he broke a tackle at the second level.

Redshirt freshman Christian Turner, too, was solid in running for 49 yards on 11 totes. While he danced a bit too much at times, he also hits the hole quickly.

None of the top three U-M backs lost any yardage, a good sign. The trio combined for 147 yards on 21 tries, an average of 7.0 yards per attempt.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey added 42 yards and a touchdown on his eight carries.

Senior quarterback Shea Patterson, however, lost a fumble on a scramble on the game’s first play, something that can’t happen.

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Patterson was playing with a pair of freshman tackles in redshirts Jalen Mayfield and Ryan Hayes, but he still had enough time to throw for 197 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone. He’d finish with 203, while McCaffrey added 17 yards on two completions.

This unit, though, was plagued by drops. Junior receiver Nico Collins dropped a third-down pass, senior tight end Sean McKeon dropped a perfect throw down the seam and sophomore Ronnie Bell had two touchdown catches go off his fingertips.

The protection was decent at times, but Patterson was sacked twice and hurried on other occasions. Mayfield and Hayes were okay in their debuts.

The run game wasn’t a big part of Middle Tennessee’s game plan. Blue Raiders quarterback Asher O’Hara was the leading carrier with 13 runs (for 32 yards, though he ran for 59 gross yards before sack yardage was removed) … no other player carried more than five times, and the backs combined for 15 carries and 35 yards.

O'Hara slipped a trio of tacklers for an 18-yard score on the Blue Raiders’ first drive and notched a handful of other solid runs, but the Wolverines tightened in the second half. MTSU went backwards for minus-6 yards in the third quarter and only had 16 in the fourth.

A blown coverage with a minute to go by the second-stringers padded the stats. Still, the Blue Raiders threw for 234 yards with two touchdowns and averaged nine yards per completion, most underneath coverage. O’Hara did a solid job selling screens and getting rid of the ball at the last minute to find open receivers, including backs, beneath the linebackers.

Michigan’s corners, though, were surprisingly good. Junior Ambry Thomas notched a pick after coming back from illness earlier than expected and played a nice game; ditto redshirt frosh Vincent Gray. He’s going to be a good one.

Senior Lavert Hill dropped a sure pick-six that would have added to the Wolverines’ point total.

The one gaffe was a big one — Hill’s muffed punt that changed the game. The Wolverines were up 24-7 and due to getting the ball back in great field position, the Blue Raiders took advantage of the short field to instead cut the game to 10.

Besides that the effort was very solid. Punter Will Hart dropped two kicks inside the 5-yard line and allowed only seven return yards on his five attempts.

MTSU didn’t return a kick, fair catching seven with one touchback. U-M freshman Giles Jackson returned three kicks 76 yards (25.3 per return) with a long of 34, and both kickers, sophomore Jake Moody and redshirt junior Quinn Nordin, contributed. Moody made both of U-M’s field goal attempts with a long of 34, while Nordin was accurate on his four extra-point tries.

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