Snap Counts, PFF Grades & Takeaways From Michigan's Loss To Penn State
Michigan Wolverines football suffered a 27-17 setback to Penn State Saturday at The Big House.
Here are the snap counts and some takeaways from from PFF's initial grades, where a single-game grade of about 64 is considered average.
RELATED: What They're Saying: Penn State 27, Michigan Wolverines Football 17
Michigan Football Offensive Snap Counts (out of 56)
C Zach Carpenter — 56
LT Karsen Barnhart — 56
LG/RG Chuck Filiaga — 56
RT Andrew Stueber — 56
WR Ronnie Bell — 48
LG Trevor Keegan — 47
QB Cade McNamara — 45
WR Cornelius Johnson — 41
TE Nick Eubanks — 41
RB Hassan Haskins — 40
WR A.J. Henning — 32
WR Mike Sainristil — 15
TE Erick All — 15
H-Back Ben Mason — 13
QB Joe Milton — 11
RB Chris Evans — 10
RG Zak Zinter — 9
WR Roman Wilson — 7
OL Joel Honigford — 6
RB Blake Corum — 6
TE Luke Schoonmaker — 5
WR Jake McCurry — 1
Michigan Football Defensive Snap Counts (out of 79)
S Daxton Hill — 79
CB Gemon Green — 79
CB Vincent Gray — 79
LB Josh Ross — 79
LB Michael Barrett — 78
S Hunter Reynolds — 73
DL Carlo Kemp — 69
LB Adam Shibley — 67
DT Christopher Hinton — 61
DE Kwity Paye — 61
DT Donovan Jeter — 43
DE Taylor Upshaw — 30
DT Mazi Smith — 19
LB David Ojabo — 9
DT Julius Welschof — 9
DT Jess Speight — 7
S Brad Hawkins — 6
LB Ben VanSumeren — 6
S Makari Paige — 5
DE Gabe Newburg — 5
DE Jaylen Harrell — 4
LB Kalel Mullings — 1
Michigan Football Takeaways From Snap Counts, PFF Grades
OFFENSE
• The starting offensive line was the same as the week prior (grades in parentheses): redshirt sophomore left tackle Karsen Barnhart (53.4), redshirt junior left guard Chuck Filiaga (56.7), redshirt freshman center Zach Carpenter (61.5), freshman right guard Zak Zinter (59.2) and redshirt junior right tackle Andrew Stueber (58.3). However, after just nine snaps, Zinter was taken out of the game (likely injury, though there was no clarification postgame), redshirt freshman Trevor Keegan was inserted at left guard and Filiaga slid over to right guard. Keegan fared about just as well as the other linemen in his first bit of extended playing time (59.3).
• Filiaga (84.9) and Carpenter (82.6) were stellar in pass protection.
• Redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins shined once again and posted the best grade by a U-M offensive player, by far (84.9). He not only ran the ball well and gained over 100 yards for a second-straight week, but he was an outstanding pass blocker (78.8).
• Speaking of the running backs, the three top players on U-M's offense hail from position coach Jay Harbaugh's group, with fifth-year senior Chris Evans (67.0) and true freshman Blake Corum (65.9) also impressing. In fact, Haskins, Evans and Corum were the only three on offense to post above-average grades.
• In his first career start, freshman receiver A.J. Henning graded out as U-M's fourth-best player on his side of the ball (63.2), while notching three receptions, including a long of 28.
• Sophomore wideout Mike Sainristil, Evans and sophomore receiver Cornelius Johnson were all credited with one dropped pass a piece. Johnson was targeted the most out of any pass-catcher (eight times), but only came away with two receptions, with several of the passes his way not being on target.
• The tight end position continues to struggle, especially in the run blocking department. Here were the run blocking grades for the tight end and h-backs that made appearances: sophomore Erick All (53.5), fifth-year senior Nick Eubanks (49.1), redshirt sophomore Luke Schoonmaker (45.9) and senior h-back Ben Mason (45.7).
DEFENSE
• The top-graded player on defense (by far) was none other than redshirt sophomore cornerback Gemon Green (89.1), who was outstanding in coverage (90.2), only allowing two catches for 15 yards on five targets with three pass breakups. He was also the team's best tackler, making seven stops and grading out at 83.0.
• Sticking with coverage, redshirt sophomore viper Michael Barrett was the next-best in that category (76.1) and played a nice game overall (72.3) while notching nine tackles and allowing just one pass caught for four yards on one target.
• The team's top pass rushers were redshirt sophomore defensive end Taylor Upshaw (72.0 in that category), redshirt junior defensive tackle Donovan Jeter (65.2) and redshirt sophomore tackle Julius Welschof (63.4). Upshaw and Welschof each had a sack.
• The Wolverines, as a defense, notched 12 quarterback pressures, two sacks, two hits on the quarterback and eight hurries.
• After missing the prior three games, senior defensive end Kwity Paye returned and played 61 snaps. He graded out as the 11th-best player on defense (63.7) and posted a pass-rush grade of 63.1 with a team-high three QB hurries. His tackling (35.5) was where he struggled.
• U-M's run defense was putrid, allowing Penn State to accumulate 254 yards on the ground. Redshirt junior middle linebacker Adam Shibley, filling in for the injured Cameron McGrone, graded out at 26.0 in run defense. However, his partner in the middle, redshirt junior Josh Ross, was the best (69.3) in that category, followed by Green (68.6), Barrett (66.4), Gray (66.3) and sophomore defensive tackle Christopher Hinton (64.9).
• After just six snaps, senior safety Brad Hawkins left the game with an injury (for a second-straight week). Filling in for him was, once again, redshirt junior Hunter Reynolds, who posted an overall grade of 63.4 and a coverage grade of 64.0.
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