Position by position report card from Michigan's big win over Maryland

Michigan went to Maryland for their final road game before they take on Ohio State back at home to end the regular season. Michigan went up early and never looked back as they largely cruised to a 45-20 win over the Terrapins. It was Michigan's best performance of the season in my opinion and it couldn't have come at a better time with the Buckeyes on deck next. Let's dive into how each position group graded out in this game against Maryland.

Quarterbacks: B+

Bryce Underwood had a nice bounce back performance this week after a very up and down showing last time out against Northwestern. He finished 16/23 passing for 215 yards and 2 TD's with 6 carries for 20 yards on the ground. He did almost threw a pick early on in this game but really settled in nicely after that. He looked comfortable all day long as he made much better decisions after he threw 2 late INT's last week. It'll be very important for the Wolverines that he keeps up the clean play, as turnovers could doom them next week against Ohio State.

Running Backs: A

Despite missing their top two rushers on the season in Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall, Michigan's running backs didn't seem to miss much of a beat. Bryson Kuzdzal got the starting nod in this one and he carried the ball 20 times for 100 yards and 3 TD's. He played really well and didn't look like a former walk-on at all which is a huge compliment to him.

Jasper Parker also chipped in 8 carries for 23 yards and 1 TD, Micah Ka'apana carried it 6 times for 14 yards, and Tomas O'Meara added 8 carries for 71 yards. Overall, Michigan ran it for 228 yards without their top two running backs and that's a huge credit both to the offensive line as well as the running back room as a whole. They really stepped up and helped carry the load without their top players and that's a huge performance by some guys who normally don't see the field very often.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: B+

The wide receivers and tight ends all played quite well in this game. Andrew Marsh led the way once again, finishing with 5 catches for 76 yards and 1 really nice TD grab on a fade ball in the end zone to pull Michigan back to even with Maryland, 7-7, after their first offensive drive. He was Bryce Underwood's favorite target once again in this one and that's really no surprise with how well he's played lately. He's legitimately having one of the best true Freshman seasons for a wide receiver in Michigan history.

Donaven McCulley also had a nice game, catching 2 passes for 46 yards and 1 TD. He only had two catches but both were big plays for the offense. Marlin Klein had 3 catches for 37 yards in a solid performance for him, and Zack Marshall also caught 2 passes for 30 yards. Max Bredeson also had 1 catch for 7 yards to move the chains on an early third down. Nearly everyone contributed this week, and most importantly, this position group didn't drop any passes by my count. It hasn't been a great year for this position group overall but they have played much better as of late and that continued here against Maryland.

Offensive Line: A

Michigan's offensive line really owned the line of scrimmage against this solid Maryland defense. The offense was very balanced overall, and that's largely because the offensive line was firing on all cylinders no matter what the play call was, or who was getting the ball. They ended up rushing for 228 yards, and averaged 4.3 yards per carry despite being without their top two ball carriers in this game. They did allow 2 sacks, but one of them was on Bryce Underwood in my opinion as it looked like he stepped up right into the pressure despite having a clean pocket to throw from. Overall it was a great performance from the offensive line in this game and it looks lie they're peaking at the perfect time in the season.

Defensive Line: B

Michigan's defensive line was pretty good in this one but left a little bit to be desired. They held Maryland to just 71 rushing yards and 3.2 yards per carry. They also had three sacks as well but down to down they were fairly quiet in the pass rush department. Part of that was because Maryland was doing a lot of quick drop back passing but still, you'd like to see more early pressure from this defensive line. It is a little nit picky, I understand that, but this group should be held to a high standard and while they were pretty good overall I want a little bit more from this group with the overall talent they have in the position group.

Linebackers: B

Michigan's linebackers were good overall despite missing their leader and Captain Ernest Hausmann. Cole Sullivan and Jimmy Rolder each only chipped in 2 tackles themselves which is a little underwhelming to lead a linebacker group. They weren't bad or out of position all that much, but they also weren't very impactful either. They did rotate a lot and maybe it was just hard for any individual player to get into a rhythm with how much they rotated, but still, I'd like a bit more of an impactful performance from this position group. Two tackles for the linebacker position group leader is just not much at all and that needs to change next week.

Secondary: C

Overall, the secondary was just okay in this game. There were some passes where Maryland wide receivers got free and as a team they allowed 276 yards through the air. There were also a few dropped passes by Maryland wide receivers, so the stats could've been even worse. Jyaire Hill got beat badly a time or two after he had been playing really well lately. Michigan's safeties were targeted multiple times down the seams for big plays by Maryland and this position group really needs to tighten up the coverage next week against Ohio State otherwise this defense will be in for a long day.

Coaching: B

Sherrone Moore continues to confuse me with his timeout usage at the end of halves. There were two separate times in the first half where he could've called his final timeout to preserve more scoring chances on offense and just didn't call them either time for some reason. I really don't see much of a plan in these types of situations and while it didn't end up mattering in this game, it could cost them at some point and he really needs to figure out this aspect of being a Head Coach. Other than that, the team was overall well coached and well prepared for this conference road game which is a nice credit to Sherrone Moore.

Offensive Coordinator Chip Lindsey called a great game in my opinion. He did a great job of getting the running game going while also keeping Bryce Underwood playing confidently. He schemed up multiple receivers for big plays in this game and called a very balanced offense overall as they ran for 228 yards and threw for 215 yards. Let's hope this game was the blueprint for future games of his as Michigan's Offensive Coordinator.

Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale was just okay in my opinion in this game. I still don't understand why he's so insistent on blitzing the linebackers despite all evidence to the contrary so far this season in terms of overall defensive success. When he sends those linebackers, he is willingly giving up yardage in the middle of the field in the hopes of creating negative plays for the opposing offense, but this team is just not very good at doing that. He really needs to blitz less and just let his players play football because they're pretty darn good at it on defense when he doesn't surrender easy yards to opposing offenses. I sure hope he has a better plan for Ohio State next week because what he did in this game was just not it in my opinion.

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