Michigan 49, Rutgers 16 – Recap

Michigan blew out Rutgers because Rutgers is Rutgers. It is nice to actually be able to beat Rutgers. *shakes fist at Brady Hoke*Both the offense and defense were very good, though in the defense’s case, this felt like a bit of a disappointment. They were very good, but not dominant like they were against BYU, Maryland, and Northwestern. Rutgers was able to move the ball a little bit, though the defense still held them to six points.

If being “very good” was a slight disappointment defensively, it was just the opposite offensively. Rudock had his best game as a Wolverine, and maybe ever. Yes, it is Rutgers and Rutgers is bad, but Rudock was still doing some very good things. Regardless of the opponent, that’s a welcome sight. He still isn’t hitting receivers deep downfield, so opposing defenses are still stacking the box, so running room hasn’t been terribly easy to find, but after the performance he had against the Scarlet Knights, teams should start treating the Michigan passing game with a little more respect.

Offensive Line Stuff

Grant Newsome played more this week and was mostly pretty good. I have to imagine he starts next year. If there’s an area where Cole hasn’t been so great, it’s pass pro. Cole did play some center during the spring, but Kugler has looked okay when on the field for mop-up duty. Magnuson has been pretty meh and this was another less-than-ideal performance from Kalis. I thought Kalis still graded out okay, but there were some bad misses and after grading out as a -8 last week, it’s hard to feel too good about where he’s at.

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.)

(Note for this week: There was no special teams video, so there was no special teams grading. Lewis had a nice kick return for Michigan and returned kicks this week because Peppers was a little banged up and needed more elsewhere. Rutgers returned a kick for a touchdown and a punt inside the ten; both were greatly assisted by incredibly obvious penalties that either weren’t called or called and then overturned on review because the Big Ten still doesn’t know what targeting actually is. *shakes fist at Big Ten officials*)

How Excited Should You Be?

QB: 5/10. Yeah, Rudock was great, but let’s not get too excited about it until he has repeat performances against teams that are not Rutgers.

RB: 7/10. Issac didn’t play again. Neither did Karan Higdon. Green, Taylor-Douglas, and Shallman all only played in garbage time. Sione Houma took snaps at tailback. De’Veon Smith fought for yards and was solid as a blocker. Drake Johnson is fast and was not tasked with too much blocking. Going forward, I would expect Smith and Johnson to continue to mostly split carries unless Isaac really impresses in practice.

WR: 7.5/10. Again, Darboh and Chesson = good. Depth = non-existent. Beyond Chesson and Darboh, it was Peppers and Perry. Peppers is great with the ball in his hands. Perry is clearly a freshman. Blocking was better from him this week and he caught a screen pass for a decent gain. That was a noticeable improvement on his part, but it was against Rutgers, so I still don’t know about him right now.

TE: 9/10. Jake Butt had a great game and would have had an even nicer stat line were it not for a bogus “intent to deceive” call against Michigan on a pass where he was wide open, because nobody ever covered him. Seriously, what a ridiculous call. Butt never left the field, Rutgers just wasn’t paying attention. That was not the only time they neglected to cover a receiver, but that was the only time they were rewarded for being incompetent.

OL: 7/10. I discussed this a little bit earlier. Cole didn’t grade out as well because Michigan wasn’t running as much outside stuff where he’s been very good at sealing guys off. Everyone was good in pass pro. Kalis and Glasgow both had some misses in the run game. Glasgow had a few more good plays than Kalis did, though. Magnuson had another meh game.

DL 7.5/10. This number is only this low because Ryan Glasgow got hurt and Michigan was already missing Bryan Mone, so Hurst is the only real nose tackle available right now. Hurst was good, but Glasgow’s injury will stretch the defense a little bit here. Jenkins-Stone took most of the snaps at Buck, Ross spelled him on some third downs and was pretty good in doing so.

LB: 7/10. Morgan bounced back and Bolden came back to Earth a little bit. Ross had a very nice day. Ben Gedeon was out.

CB: 8.5/10. Lewis was excellent, setting the Michigan single-season pass breakup record in the process. Everyone else was just okay. That didn’t really hurt Michigan much, because Rutgers.

S: 9/10. Dymonte Thomas looks to have taken over the starting safety spot opposite Wilson and that seems like a good idea, inconsistent as Thomas may be. Hill wasn’t very good. Wilson was very good. Peppers is still the man.

K: 8.5/10. Allen missed from inside 40 for the first time this year.

P: 9.5/10. Didn’t really need O’Neill much.

ST: 8.5/10. Missed calls resulted in 10 points for Rutgers.

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

Jake Rudock, QB

Ben Braden, OG

Sione Houma, FB

De’Veon Smith, RB

Jake Butt, TE

Jehu Chesson, WR

Graham Glasgow, C

Jabrill Peppers, WR

Defense

Taco Charlton, DE

James Ross, LB/DE

Chris Wormley, DE/DT

Jourdan Lewis, CB

Jabrill Peppers, S

Jarrod Wilson, S

Desmond Morgan, LB

Maurice Hurst, NT

Special Teams

Jourdan Lewis, KR

Helmet Sticker Count

Jabrill Peppers, S, KR, PR, WR – 14

Chris Wormley, DE/DT – 9

Jourdan Lewis, CB – 8

Desmond Morgan, LB – 7

Willie Henry, DE/DT – 6

Graham Glasgow, C – 6

De’Veon Smith, RB – 6

Jake Butt, TE – 6

Maurice Hurst, NT – 6

Ryan Glasgow, NT – 5

Jehu Chesson, WR, KR – 5

Sione Houma, FB – 5

Blake O’Neill, P – 4

Kyle Kalis, OG – 4

Amara Darboh, WR – 4

Mason Cole, OT – 4

Joe Kerridge, FB – 4

Ben Braden, OG – 4

Taco Charlton, DE – 3

Erik Magnuson, OT – 2

A.J. Williams, TE – 2

Ben Gedeon, LB – 2

Royce Jenkins-Stone, DE – 2

Joe Bolden, LB – 2

Drake Johnson, RB – 2

Jake Rudock, QB – 2

Brian Cole, ST – 1

Matt Godin, DT – 1

Ty Isaac, RB – 1

Khalid Hill, TE-H – 1

Channing Stribling, CB – 1

Jeremy Clark, CB – 1

Kenny Allen, K – 1

Wilton Speight, QB – 1

Jarrod Wilson, S – 1

James Ross, LB/DE – 1

 

Go Blue!

 

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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