Michigan 63, Hawai’i 3 – Recap

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: September 8, 2016

First thing’s first: a big thanks to @DGDestroys, who makes the every snap videos that make these a lot easier to do.

Okay, yeah, it’s just Hawai’i. They were 3-10 last year, don’t figure to be much better this year, had flown a quarter of the way around the world, back, and then another quarter prior to playing this game at 6 A.M. Hawai’i time. Even so, things couldn’t have gone much better. Michigan didn’t just win, they dominated. Hawai’i couldn’t stop Michigan’s offense and they could barely muster anything against the defense until some third-string guys came in.

After having his career as Michigan’s starting QB begin rather inauspiciously, Wilton Speight settled down and showed why he won the job. Ty Isaac looked like he might hit that five-star ceiling after all. Chris Evans showed that he came ready to play. The offensive line worries were largely assuaged. A few blips here and there (more on that later), but definitely an improvement over last year.

And that defense. Holy cow that defense. I said in the defense preview this year that if they got even decent production out of the linebackers, “the ’85 Bears of college defenses” is in play. “The ’85 Bears of college defenses” is in play. Oh, and Maurice Hurst didn’t even play. Neither did Jourdan Lewis. Yes, you read that right.

Player Grades

Answers to any questions about grading or terminology can be found here.

How’d they do?

Ratings are out of 100 and should be read similar to Madden ratings. Overall ratings for the season are in parentheses. Obviously, they are the same this week. Going forward, the change from the previous week’s overall rating will also be in those parentheses.

QB: 85 (Season: 85)

This rating’s as high as it is because it looks like Michigan has three guys that would be at least serviceable here. (I think Peters would be okay as well, but there was absolutely no reason to burn that redshirt.) As far as Speight is concerned, that pick was a very bad one. After that, he was fine. He didn’t have to do a great many difficult things, but when he was tasked with a difficult throw, he made it. Many of his passes were routine ones and he made them look routine. The many routine plays and few of much difficulty are why he looked better than he graded out. He showed very good awareness and pocket presence. He looked majorly better than a year ago. All hail Harbaugh.

RB: 89 (Season: 89)

This is a pretty convservative rating that should go up a decent amount in the coming weeks. De’Veon Smith got dinged up and left the game as a precaution. When he was on the field, he looked okay. Ty Isaac looked very good. He was finding holes, showing some speed, and fighting for yards. Karan Higdon showed massive improvement over last year. Chris Evans burst onto the scene and past several Rainbow Warriors.

FB/H-B: 84 (Season: 84)

Khalid Hill had himself a day. His blocking was very good and he had a nice run for a TD. I suspect as Harbaugh opens up the playbook against teams better than Hawai’i, Hill will be more of a factor in the passing game as well. An H-Back role really suits him. Henry Poggi is running by fewer guys he needs to block. Still some work to be done, but an encouraging day nonetheless. Michael Hirsch had a nice showing in garbage time.

WR: 91 (Season: 91)

Darboh and Chesson weren’t called on a bunch, but in the opportunities they got, they gave no reason to not believe that the preseason projection of “one of the best duos in the country” won’t come to pass. Grant Perry ran a very nice route for his TD. Eddie McDooooom showed serious potential.

TE: 96 (Season: 96)

You may look at that number and then look at Butt’s grade and wonder why this rating’s so high. Jake Butt is Jake Butt and he is going to do Butt stu- er, the type of stuff Jake Butt does. Michigan didn’t sling the ball around; there was no reason to. The passing game is where Butt shines. He had the TD catch in this game, but not a whole lot more than that on that front. Where that grade is encouraging is that a couple of those pluses came as a blocker. The minuses did, too, but as a whole – not bad. He’s never going to be a dominating run blocker, but he was better than he was a year ago. Ian Bunting looked like he’ll be fine as Michigan’s top tight end next year. He’s showed ability as a receiver in the past; the remaining question mark on him going forward was his blocking. His blocking was pretty good in this one. Devin Asiasi had a nice debut; his blocking was quite good. I though Sean McKeon was going to be a sleeper in this recruiting class. I don’t know why his redshirt was burned, but he looked pretty good.

OL: 84 (Season: 84)

This is a conservative rating, because Hawai’i. I looked at the grades from last year’s games against cupcakes and Kalis and Magnuson graded out well in those, too, but not as well as they did in this one. That could be a case of Hawai’i or it could be that the light bulb has come on. Right now, I’m going to call it somewhere in the middle. Mason Cole was what we expected him to be at center. Patrick Kugler was okay at both guard and center. If he’s needed, the team should be fine. Ben Bredeson was very encouraging, particularly at guard. Grant Newsome had an olé, but was solid as a whole. Michael Onwenu showed serious potential at guard. No, the game was not competitive when he was in. Still, he showed an impressive combination of strength and quickness and his technique looked pretty good.

DE: 90 (Season: 90)

Chase Winovich had a very nice game. He was the big question mark on the two-deep for the D-line, so yeah, Hawai’i and all, but this was a very encouraging performance. Gary biffed setting the edge once and had a hands to the face penalty. Otherwise, he was pretty good. He was a handful (literally a few times) for a solid lineman. Taco Charlton was pretty good before leaving with an injury. He should only be out a few weeks.

DT: 91 (Season: 91)

Wormley was pretty good. He played a lot of SDE, but he’s getting included in the DT section for the season because that’s where I expect him to play in the long run. Look, these descriptions aren’t going to be perfect. That’s the price one pays for having a mad scientist like Don Brown as DC. I will take that trade 101 times out of 100. Ryan Glasgow was very good, even by Ryan Glasgow standards. He beat double teams multiple times. Bryan Mone was solid before exiting with an injury. Word is, he’ll be out a few weeks. Matt Godin ended up on the wrong side of some blocks, particularly when in with other backups. He still has trouble with double teams. When alongside Glasgow, he had a couple moments. Michael Onwenu looked capable at NT when in in garbage time.

LB: 85 (Season: 85)

Again, going conservative here because Hawai’i. Nonetheless, a very encouraging day from a position group that had some serious question marks going into the season. Jabrill Peppers did Jabrill Peppers-type stuff, flying all over the field. I saw a coverage biff and that was about it. Mike McCray is being talked about quite a bit in the aftermath of the game, and for good reason – he was very good. He looked like the guy Michigan fans thought he’d be when he committed. Ben Gedeon’s day was a nice surprise. I was more optimistic than a lot of people about Gedeon – I graded him higher than Bolden a year ago – but I still didn’t expect him to play like he did. He looked very much at home in Brown’s system. Devin Bush, Jr. looked solid when he came in. I think he’d be fine if given a larger role even during conference play.

CB: 88 (Season: 88)

Jourdan Lewis didn’t play. No, Ed Cunningham, he wasn’t suspended. Strictly a precautionary measure. We know what he brings to the table and what he brings is factored into this rating. Jeremy Clark barely got tested. I take that as a pretty good sign. Channing Stribling got tested more and was quite good save for one big biff. Brandon Watson left something to be desired. Lavert Hill had a PBU. He and Long should be fine starting next year.

S: 86 (Season: 86)

Delano Hill had a day. Don Brown’s aggressive system fits him like a glove. Two of his points came when he picked off a pass because the quarterback didn’t expect him to be there. That is awesome scheming by Brown and very good execution by Hill. Dymonte Thomas had a very nice day in his own right. Kinnel was okay when he saw the field.

Helmet Stickers

Up to 3 may be awarded per player. Not necessarily the highest-graded players since different grades mean different things to different players (refer to the primer).

Offense

3: STAR Chris Evans, FB/H-B Khalid Hill, C Mason Cole

2: OG Kyle Kalis, OT Erik Magnuson

1: WR Jehu Chesson, TE Jake Butt, WR Eddie McDoooooom, OG Michael Onwenu

Defense

3: DT Ryan Glasgow, LB Ben Gedeon, LB Mike McCray, S Delano Hill

2: CB Channing Stribling, LB/DB Jabrill Peppers, DE Chase Winovich

1: LB Devin Bush, Jr., S Dymonte Thomas, DE Rashan Gary

Helmet Sticker Count