Position grades from Michigan Football’s Maize vs Blue Spring Game
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The Maize Team took down the Blue Team, 7-6, in the Michigan Football Spring Game at the Big House on Saturday behind a strong performance from the defensive line and an intriguing showing from a certain backup quarterback.
Here are our grades for each position group from the scrimmage.
Quarterbacks: B-
Bryce Underwood has lofty expectations for his sophomore season, but the spring game was certainly a bit underwhelming. He completed 3-for-9 passes for 22 passing yards in one quarter of action. On the other hand, Tommy Carr was impressive in his debut with 143 passing yards and 59 rushing yards while completing 21-for-30 passes and leading the game-winning drive.
Running backs: B
Jordan Marshall is set to be the featured running back this year, and he looked solid in the game — albeit in limited action — by posting 21 yards on five carries. Meanwhile, true freshman Savion Hiter showed off his dynamic potential by going for 44 yards on 10 attempts. Tomas O’Meara scored the go-ahead touchdown — the only touchdown of the game — with 17 seconds left.
Wide receivers: C+
The wide receiving corps wasn’t great in the first quarter, but started to find a rhythm later in the game as freshman Salesi Moa grabbed four catches for 26 yards, highlighted by a one-handed snag. Meanwhile, Carr continued to develop a connection with Texas transfer Jaime Ffrench (four receptions, 26 yards), Jamar Browder (two receptions, 26 yards) and others.
Tight ends: B
It was a solid performance from the tight ends, as Eli Owens finished with a game-high 28 yards on four catches, while Hogan Hansen and Deakon Tonielli combined for three catches and 38 yards. It appears Michigan is comfortable with all three tight ends playing a significant role this season, and they all flashed their ability throughout the spring scrimmage.
Offensive line: C+
The offensive line played well at times, but it definitely wasn’t an inspiring outing for a unit that needs to be better than a season ago. Blake Frazier, Jake Guarnera and Andrew Sprague seem to be solidified as starters, and Evan Link held his own. But the offensive line allowed five sacks, seven tackles for loss, and created 3.3 yards per rush. There’s still a lot to be desired.
Defensive line: A
The defensive line was the most impressive unit of the day, constantly forcing the quarterbacks to scramble out of the pocket. Travis Moten posted a game-high two sacks and six tackles, while Nate Marshall had one sack. Bobby Kanka had a big-time tackle on a goal-line stand to force a turnover on downs with a pad-popping hit.
Linebackers: C+
The linebacker room is certainly one of the biggest areas of concern entering this season, and the spring game didn’t exactly instill a ton of confidence moving forward. Adam Bazzi was the most productive linebacker, totaling two tackles for loss and one sack, and true freshman Markel Dabney showed promise. But the linebackers were mostly quiet, which is a bit worrisome.
Secondary: B+
Whittingham previously said the secondary has a lot of potential but plenty of room to improve as well. In the spring scrimmage, it was mostly positive results from the defensive backfield. Kainoa Winston tied a game-high six tackles and one pass breakup, Chris Bracy and Taylor Tatum had pass deflections, and Nico Andrighetto had a perfectly-timed hit to force an incompletion.
Special teams: B-
Since there was no punting, the only special teams we got a chance to see was the field goal kicking unit. Stuart Blake looked comfortable in his first game with the Wolverines, going 2-for-2 on field goal attempts. Pittsburgh transfer Trey Butkowski missed his only field goal attempt, but he bounded back with the go-ahead extra point.
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