Michigan 31, BYU Goose Egg – Recap

I can’t remember the last time I saw Michigan play this well. Last night when we were recording the podcast, Prentiss said it was the best win since Lloyd Carr was there. He might be right. In 2011, Michigan blew out Minnesota, but that was a 3-9 Golden Gopher team. They beat Nebraska by 28, but even that wasn’t as dominant of a performance as we saw this past Saturday. Now, BYU was missing two key players: QB Taysom Hill and NT Travis Tuiloma. Even so, they were missing Hill and Tuiloma when they went to Los Angeles and came within a point of UCLA, so for Michigan to do this to them is just…wow.

Pretty much everyone expected the defense to be good. I don’t know if anyone could have thought the defense would be this good. In the last 11 quarters, the defense has allowed 7 points and those came on a garbage time TD by UNLV. There were two huge question marks at the defensive end spots going into the season. Ojemudia, Charlton, and Jenkins-Stone have all been solid and Wormley’s been one of Michigan’s best players. The corner spot opposite Jourdan Lewis was a question mark that was only made bigger when it was decided that Wayne Lyons was going to play safety. Stribling and Clark have both been at least fine there. If Michigan can find one more linebacker to take the next step (Desmond Morgan has been very good), look out.

After the Utah loss that now looks significantly better after the Utes demolished Oregon in Eugene, I said that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Well, it wasn’t built in four days, either; this team still isn’t a finished product. Rudock missed some reads and some guys missed some blocks. But this team is miles better than it was a year ago, and continues to improve every week. The Washington Post speculated on a playoff berth for the Wolverines this year. That would almost definitely require Michigan to run the table and that doesn’t seem incredibly likely to me, though I’d love to be wrong here. Even if Michigan’s not in the playoff this year, the future still looks very bright. I placed a lot of the failures of last year on the coaching staff and was fairly optimistic about this team’s prospects. They are currently exceeding my reasonable hopes for this year.

Game Grades

(A “+” is awarded for a positive play, a “-” for a negative one. For big positive or negative plays, 2 “+” or “-“, respectively, may be given.)

How Excited Should You Be?

QB: 4/10. Rudock was better in this game. He played better than he graded out, too. When Michigan was still really trying, Rudock was fine. During the second half, when Michigan was basically running clock, he got too conservative and missed some reads.

RB: 9.5/10. De’Veon Smith was awesome. He left the game with an ankle injury, so keep an eye on that. He did say that he plans to play Saturday against Maryland, though. Isaac didn’t get many carries since Smith was so good. Green didn’t get many, either. Drake Johnson continues to look better every week. He says he’s faster now than he was prior to his injury. I think he’s right. Kerridge was out against BYU. Houma was very good.

WR: 7/10. Darboh had an excellent catch and an excellent game. Ways had a very nice showing as well. From what we’ve seen thus far, I think the receivers Michigan has are fine, though not great, and they’ll go as the QB does.

TE: 10/10. Poggi seems to have really gotten the hang of the position. Hill is doing what I thought he’d do in this offense. A.J. Williams is really producing. Ian Bunting is an asset in the passing game. Jake Butt is Jake Butt.

OL: 9/10. Braden biffed a few times, but overall, was pretty good. Cole, Glasgow, and Kalis were outstanding. Magnuson had a nice showing and Kugler looked pretty good coming in late. Dawson was lousy coming in for Braden, so I guess that merits watching for next year.

DL: 10/10. You could have replaced Michigan’s defensive line with a brick wall and that wall would not have been as good as the actual line was.

LB: 6/10. I gave the unit a 6 last week, so I’ll keep it there this week, since the linebackers really weren’t needed much against BYU. Michigan played a lot of dime, and even when multiple linebackers were on the field, many plays ended either at the line or with an incompletion.

CB: 8/10. Jourdan Lewis was Jourdan Lewis. Clark and Strbling were both good as well. If that continues, good luck passing on this defense.

S: 7/10. Hill had a nice game. Wilson was meh in limited opportunities.

DW: 8.5/10. Peppers is starting to look like the player Michigan fans think he’ll be. He had a very nice showing, throwing a couple guys around in the process.

K/P: 8/10. Kenny Allen hit a 40-yard FG. Blake O’Neill took off on an ill-advised scramble, but was otherwise very good.

ST: 7/10. Michigan pressured BYU’s punter, but didn’t block any. When Peppers had a chance to return a kick, he did something very nice with it. Ben Gedeon had a couple nice tackles here.

Helmet Stickers

(Generally the 3 players on offense and defense I have graded the highest, plus the best special teams performer, but I reserve the right to award as many or as few stickers as I see fit.)

Offense

Mason Cole, OT

Graham Glasgow, C

Kyle Kalis, OG

De’Veon Smith

Amara Darboh, WR

Khalid Hill, TE-H

Sione Houma, FB

Defense

Chris Wormley, DE

Ryan Glasgow, NT

Maurice Hurst, NT

Willie Henry, DE

Jourdan Lewis, CB

Channing Stribling, CB

Jeremy Clark, CB

Jabrill Peppers, DW

Special Teams

Blake O’Neill, P

Ben Gedeon, LB

Helmet Sticker Count

Chris Wormley, DE – 4

Desmond Morgan, LB – 3

Jake Butt, TE – 3

De’Veon Smith, RB – 3

Jourdan Lewis, CB – 3

Jabrill Peppers, DW – 3

Blake O’Neill, P – 3

Mason Cole, OT – 3

Graham Glasgow, C – 3

Kyle Kalis, OG – 3

Joe Kerridge, FB -2

Erik Magnuson, OT – 2

Taco Charlton, DE – 2

Amara Darboh, WR – 2

Ryan Glasgow, NT – 2

Willie Henry, DE – 2

Ben Braden, OG – 1

A.J. Williams, TE – 1

Brian Cole, WR – 1

Matt Godin, DT – 1

Ty Isaac, RB – 1

Khalid Hill, TE-H – 1

Sione Houma, FB – 1

Channing Stribling, CB – 1

Jeremy Clark, CB – 1

Maurice Hurst, NT – 1

Ben Gedeon, LB – 1

 

Go Blue!

 

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com