The Michigan Wolverines defeated the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Saturday, bouncing back from their tough loss the week before to the Texas Longhorns. The Michigan ground game got back on track, the secondary locked up their opponents and the run defense was a brick wall, but more concern arose with the quarterback position.
Let’s get to this week’s position grades.
Quarterbacks: D
While the run game flexed its muscle from start to finish, the quarterbacks put Michigan in a position to fail countless times, turning the ball over three times and making poor decisions. Davis Warren played two-and-a-half quarters, completing 11-of-14 passes for 122 yards, but his three incompletions all resulted in interceptions.
Davis Warren is 1st Michigan QB with 3+ INTs and 0 TD passes in a game since John O'Korn did it vs Michigan State on 10/7/2017
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) September 14, 2024
After Warren’s third turnover, Alex Orji took the reins and while he did throw a touchdown, he missed a wide open Fred Moore deep down the field. Orji finished the game 2-of-4 for 12 yards and a touchdown while also rushing three times for 27 yards. Head coach Sherrone Moore has even more questions regarding his quarterbacks.
Running backs: A+
Last week against Texas, Donovan Edwards picked up just 41 yards while Kalel Mullings had just 25 yards. On Saturday against Arkansas State, Mullings and Edwards blew those numbers out of the water, as Mullings had 153 yards and two touchdowns, and Edwards had 82 yards and a touchdown. Ben Hall also got in on the action, rushing for 20 yards on three rush attempts.
Overall, the Wolverines tallied more than 300 yards on the ground to carry the offense (and the team) to victory.
Wide receivers: B-
If we were handing out individual grades among the wide receivers, Frederick Moore would receive an A, and the rest of the wide receivers would receive D’s. Granted, the wide receivers didn’t get many opportunities and the quarterbacks weren’t playing their best game once again, but two catches for Semaj Morgan is definitely concerning to watch.
Tight ends: B+
Colston Loveland was still Michigan’s primary pass target on Saturday, catching three passes for 30 yards, but he departed from the game in the second quarter with an injury. In his place, backup tight end Marlin Klein was efficient, bringing in three catches for 43 yards — 33 of which came off one completion — leading the team in receiving yards.
The biggest surprise was when freshman Hogan Hansen took a bootleg pass from Orji for a touchdown. Overall, it was a productive day for the tight end room, but Loveland’s injury is worth watching.
Offensive line: B+
The Michigan run game was much stronger on Saturday than the two previous games, in large part due to the holes the offense line created for them. The offense created more heavy-set packages for Mullings and Edwards, putting backup offensive lineman Andrew Gentry on the right side next to Evan Link to help with run-blocking support. Overall, this was a step in the right direction for this unit.
Defensive line: B
The Red Wolves had a game plan to neutralize Michigan’s top interior defensive linemen, and it succeeded to an extent. Mason Graham is projected to be a top-10 pick in next year’s draft, but he only tallied two tackles against Arkansas State largely because he was double-teamed the entire game. His partner, Kenneth Grant, also accumulated just two tackles, but he had a crucial pass-break-up on third down, forcing the Red Wolves the punt.
On the outside, the production came from a rotation of edges, but none of the defensive linemen could get to the quarterback. It was an underwhelming statistical day for a group with very high expectations.
Linebackers: B+
While the defensive linemen couldn’t get to the quarterback, the linebackers brought the pressure on Saturday, highlighting one of the keys to Wink Martindale’s defensive scheme. Ernest Hausmann, Jaishawn Barham and Jimmy Rolder got plenty of action, and all three led the team in tackles with seven, seven and five, respectively. Hausmann also tallied the team’s lone sack on the day. This group was instrumental in holding the Red Wolves to 58 yards on the ground on 25 carries.
Defensive backs: B+
Outside of the first quarter and garbage time, the Michigan secondary held Arkansas State in check. Will Johnson looked like a top cornerback on Saturday afternoon, recording four tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass breakup and one quarterback hit. Makari Paige also collected an interception in the end zone. Michigan held the Red Wolves in check and will look to take on an explosive USC offense next week.
Special Teams: B
Dominic Zvada looked great and made all four extra-point attempts, but Tommy Doman only averaged 39 yards on his three punts. Overall, there weren’t any back-breaking mistakes, but the punt team has to be vastly better moving forward.
