Position by position report card for the Michigan State vs. Michigan game

Quarterback: C

Bryce Underwood didn't play very well in this game. PFF had him as the second worst offensive player for Michigan, right behind wide receiver Donaven McCulley. He completed 8/17 passes for 86 yards and had a QBR of 38.5. He never really looked comfortable, he was pressured consistently and even when he wasn't pressured he was rushing through his footwork and scrambling before he needed to. Part of this is on Chip Lindsey for not being able to get him into a rhythm in my opinion but they also didn't need him to do much in this game to get the win.

Running backs: A

Both running backs were fantastic in this game. Justice Haynes carried the ball 26 times for 152 yards and 2 TD's while Jordan Marshall added another 15 carries for 110 yards and 1 TD. Haynes averaged 5.8 yards per carry and Marshall averaged 7.3. I also liked how Michigan got both a fair amount of touches in this game, and I'd like to see them have this type of a split the rest of the year to keep both guys fresh. These are two of Michigan's best offensive players and they both need to touch the ball a lot the rest of the way for Michigan's offense.

Wide receivers and tight ends: C-

Nobody really stood out in this game for the wide receivers or tight ends, which is not a good thing for this position. Andrew Marsh led Michigan in receiving again with 3 catches for 54 yards and only two other players caught passes outside of Justice Haynes. Part of their lack of production was because Bryce Underwood struggled so much in this game so I don't necessarily blame the pass-catchers for all of the struggles of the passing game but they also didn't make a ton of plays to help their young quarterback out either. Semaj Morgan dropped yet another pass, and I just don't understand why the coaches insist on playing him. It's time to fully move past him and give other guys like Channing Goodwin more of a chance to play his slot wide receiver role.

Offensive line: B+

The offensive line played quite well against Michigan State. Michigan State's defense has struggled against both the run and the pass and Michigan essentially has its way on the ground against them. They averaged over 5 yards per carry as a team and ran for a total of 276 yards which is always an impressive feat. The offensive line did struggle in pass protection though yet again and it's been a trend for them really all season at this point. When they can run the ball like they did in this game, it doesn't really matter how they pass protect but against the better defenses the pass protection issues will be more of a problem.

Defensive line: A-

The defensive line is really starting to come into its own in my opinion. According to PFF, 5 out of Michigan's top 10 defensive players in this game all came from the defensive line. Derrick Moore led the way with a 73.2 grade, followed closely by Jaishawn Barham at 69.4, Rayshaun Benny at 69.0, Enow Etta at 68.6, and TJ Guy at 67.9. Michigan State did have a little bit more success running the ball than I thought they would but it was mostly from chunk yardage. The down to down consistency wasn't great for Michigan's defensive line but their good plays are really good and they happen more often than the bad plays do, which is obviously a good thing. They did a good job of making Aidan Chiles uncomfortable in the pass game as they were constantly in the backfield making their presence felt.

Linebackers: A-

The linebackers were quite good in this game. Jimmy Rolder was all over the place and Ernest Hausman played good as well. Cole Sullivan did leave this game and didn't return due to an injury and that's a bit of a concern moving forward. He's their best pass coverage linebacker so if he has to miss a lot of time moving forward, Hausman and Rolder will have to get better in that area. They are both really good against the run though and they proved that yet again against the Spartans.

Secondary: B

In this game, Jyaire Hill played really well. He shadowed the Spartans star wide receiver Nick Marsh for much of the game and did a really nice job on him. He continues to improve with more experience and looks like a fairly high future NFL Draft pick whenever he declares for it. Zeke Berry had his moments as well but got away with some pass interference at least once but he still played well overall. The safeties were a bit of a struggle for the second game in a row. Brandyn Hillman returned after missing the Washington game and played well against both the run and the pass. Mason Curtis didn't play a ton but I thought he played well when he was out there. Jaden Mangham missed a couple tackles and TJ Metcalf got beat for a pass interference in the end zone on a play too. This group needs Rod Moore back as soon as possible to help solidify the back end of Michigan's defense.

Special Teams: C

Hudson Hollenbeck continues to be a bit of a rollercoaster. He had a really nice punt to pin Michigan State at their own 3 yard line in the first half but also had a stinker of a punt for 32 yards in the second half. Overall he had a few nice moments but he's just not reliable enough to be a punter at a school like Michigan in my opinion. Semaj Morgan at punt returner has legitimately a negative effect on the special teams unit. I truly don't know why he's still back their to return them because he just makes such bad decisions. He fair caught one at his own 4 yard line which no special teams coach will ever tell you to do. He also had a huge space to make a return later on in the game and decided to run sideways and get tackled for a minimal gain rather than just running straight forward to pick up as much yardage as he could. Every return he's back there for Michigan from this point forward is on the coaches, as he really needs to be benched. He's just too big of a liability back there and he doesn't provide anything of real value in the return game.

Coaching: B-

Overall the coaching was pretty good. Sherrone Moore had some good 4th down decision making in this game but I still have no idea what their plan is at the end of halves. They had one timeout and 47 seconds left with the ball at their 17 yard line and the play calling from there went run, 4 yard pass, 4 yard pass, incomplete pass, and another run to run out the clock. If you want to run out the clock, they should've just run it however many times it took to take it into the half. Instead they tried to both run and do short passes for some reason. Then, with time for one final play at Michigan's 34 yard line they decided not to even attempt a hail mary despite seeing one completed on them earlier on in the year against Nebraska. Instead they just ran the ball and took it into halftime. It truly makes no sense why you wouldn't even attempt it, and that's 100% on the head coach Sherrone Moore in this situation. At the very least he needs someone in his ear telling him what to do in these situations because through a season and a half he's pretty clueless on how to handle the end of half situations.

Chip Lindsey had a really good game with the run plays he called. They were getting good production on the ground all game and they leaned more into that in the second half which was a good adjustement. He never really got Bryce Underwood going though and that's a bit of a concern because Michigan State's secondary is not good at all. They need to work on this pass game more and they should be doing it against opponents like this one to prepare for better defenses they'll face later on in this season.

Wink Martindale had a good game calling the defense. He played a bit more man than I would've guessed but they did a nice job of keeping the wide receivers in check. Michigan State's offense was mostly chunk plays and a garbage time TD late with a bunch of backups and true freshman in there. Wink still has no clue on how to stop an offense from converting in long yardage situations, and it's truly one of the more baffling things I've seen consistently from a college defense. He just continues to stay very aggresive in long yardage situations when there's no need to do so. He has a good defensive line so why not just let those guys pin their ears back and rush the passer and drop the rest of the defense to avoid giving the opposing offense easy yardage through the air. I don't understand it all and he really needs to figure that out before it bites them in a bigger game later on. Other than that, he called a great game and put his players in good positions to succeed throughout the game.

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