Michigan Wolverines Stock Report: 3 Players Rising and 3 Players Falling After Big Win Over Oklahoma

Michigan bounced back in a big way with a 17-10 home win over the #11 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. After controlling the game in the first half, the Wolverines had a 10-0 lead at the break. Oklahoma turned it on in the 3rd quarter though, scoring on back to back possessions to tie it up at 10-10.

Then with the Sooners backed up, Jyaire Hill made a terrific play to undercut an Oklahoma wide receiver, picked off John Mateer, and returned it back to the Oklahoma six yard line. Jordan Marshall would punch it in two plays later from one yard out to put Michgan up 17-10.

Michigan's defense was able to hold on from there, and eventually a sack by Nate Marshall sealed the Wolverines' win. Let's dive into the stock report from this game below as there's plenty of Wolverines who showed out in this game, and there were also some who didn't help themselves with their performance in this game.

Stock Up: John Henry Daley

John Henry Daley looked terrific against the Sooners in this game. He wound up with 9 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 1 sack against an overwhelmed Oklahoma offensive line. He was all over the field, putting pressure on John Mateer when he dropped back to pass and also making several nice run stops. He looked every bit the part of an All-Big Ten type player in this game and will hope to build on his momentum as Michigan continues on this season.

Stock Down: Chase Taylor

Looking at the box score, you wouldn't be able to really tell that Chase Taylor had a bad game. He finished with 4 tackles overall, and 0.5 sacks to go with it. However on Oklahoma's best drive of the game they picked on him several times with their tight end Rocky Beers in the middle of the field. Chase Taylor was largely unable to stick with him in coverage, and the Sooners dialed up several similar plays to isolate Beers and Chase Taylor in the second half.

Luckily for Michigan, Mateer also missed him on a couple other passes where Beer was open. It wasn't an awful game for Taylor by any means but he'll need to get better in coverage because now other teams will be picking on him in the middle of the field moving forward.

Stock Up: Michigan's Secondary

I'm kind of cheating here but it's too hard to pick just one player. Michigan's entire secondary looked like an elite unit in this game, as they were repeatedly put in man coverage against a good Oklahoma wide receiver room and boy did they step up. Oklahoma receivers managed just 8 catches for 82 yards against this Michigan secondary in what was a standout performance from the position group.

Jyaire Hill had a big mistake early in the second half with a really dumb late hit/unnecessary roughness penalty when Oklahoma was backed up inside their own 10 yard line. He bounced back in a big way though with the key interception in the 4th quarter and he was otherwise very good in coverage.

Zeke Berry was hardly targeted in coverage which is always a good thing if you're a cornerback, and Smith Snowden had a few nice plays in coverage as well. Chris Bracy had a couple big hits in this game, and he also forced the fumble in the first half that Troy Bowles ended up recovering for the game's first turnover. Rod Moore has always been really good at open field tackling and that was true once again in this game.

Michigan's entire secondary was very good in this game and if that can continue, the sky is the limit for this Michigan defense.

Stock Down: Jordan Marshall

Jordan Marshall was expected to play a huge role in the Michigan offense this season but through two games he has just 76 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.4 yards per carry). He did have a nice run on the 1-yard touchdown that ended up being the game winner as he ran through two Sooner defenders to punch it in, but he was largely ineffective otherwise in both games so far this season. Michigan has to be able to get more out of their star junior tailback to help take more pressure off Bryce Underwood and the passing game.

Stock Up: Michigan's Offensive Line

I tore up this offensive line last week and rightly so, but they bounced back this week. They were able to grind out 152 yards on the ground against a very salty Oklahoma defense. They also gave Bryce Underwood more time to throw this week, and again, did it against one of the nation's best defenses. Underwood was only sacked twice and one of them was on him as he kept it when he ran out of bounds instead of throwing it away.

Michigan also made a change to their starting offensive line group in this game and it's pretty clear that it worked out for them. Evan Link was benched at left guard, and Nathan Efobi who split time at both guard spots last week slid into the starting left guard spot. You have to believe Michigan will try to keep this starting group together now in the hopes that they can continue to grow together as a unit as they get more experience playing together.

Stock Down: Andrew Marsh

Not necessarily through any fault of his own, but so far this year Andrew Marsh has yet to get going. Against Western Michigan he finished with two catches for 15 yards, and in this game he finished with four touches for 28 total yards. He did draw at least one pass interference penalty though in this game and had he not been interfered with his box score likely would've looked much better.

Still though, the box score shows what it shows and so far this season JJ Buchanan has been Bryce Underwood's #1 target, and that's come at the expense of Andrew Marsh. I still believe he's a very talented player and that he will have much better games later on this year, so it's not really a sky is falling situation with the young wide receiver, but it is something to monitor. Michigan will need him to step up and be more involved in the offense as they continue their season.

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