Michigan took care of business against the Washington Huskies, 24-7, at the Big House. It’s easy to focus on the same mistakes week after week — the Wolverines definitely had drops and penalties that hurt
them, as well as some miscues on special teams — but overall, it was more good than bad on Saturday.
Here are three winners and two losers from Michigan’s win over Washington.
Offensive Play Calling — Winner
You have to hand it to Chip Lindsey this week — he managed to find a rhythm to get nearly everyone going. The Wolverines picked up 417 total yards, with 230 being through the air and 187 coming on the ground. The game plan incorporated tight end Zack Marshall, who led the team with five catches for 72 yards and one touchdown. We’d been waiting to see the tight ends be incorporated more into Michigan’s offense, and that happened this week.
WR Semaj Morgan — Loser
We had a rule growing up that included saying two nice things anytime we said something rude about another person. Here’s one for Semaj Morgan — he has done a great job when it comes to yards after the catch. He has fought to get the positive yards. It’s just he’s had issues catching the ball. Something isn’t quite clicking for him right now, and the coaches might want to consider making a change. He had two catches for 20 yards, but he had another unfortunate drop this week, with this one coming on a fourth down.
Michigan’s “Young Guns” — Winner
When you look at Michigan’s freshmen and sophomores, they performed really well this week. Bryce Underwood threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns, completing 21-of-27 pass attempts. Running back Jordan Marshall had 25 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown, but also picked up 20 receiving yards. Wide receiver Andrew Marsh is continuing to make some great grabs and had five catches for 49 yards and a score in this game. The young offensive line really held up against Washington’s defense. Sophomore safety Jacob Oden came down with his first interception, and linebacker Cole Sullivan had a pick of his own.
4th Down Miscues — Loser
This one goes for both the defense and the offense. The Wolverines’ defense gave up a huge fourth-down conversion in this game. While they still only allowed seven points, it would’ve been nice to see them make both fourth-down stops. On offense, Michigan was 0-for-2 on fourth down plays. Michigan had a pretty great play called on its first try, and Morgan’s drop negated the play. On the next one, Marshall wasn’t able to get enough push to pick up the first down.
Linebackers — Winner
This group performed very well on Saturday. Cole Sullivan and Jimmy Rolder each had interceptions. Ernest Hausmann had seven tackles, including one tackle for loss. Rolder also had 1.5 tackles for loss. This group has a ton of talent, and Saturday’s defensive game plan highlighted that fact.
We know the team wins and loses together, but who would you say won the day, and who could use some improvement heading into next week? Let us know in the comments!
