The Michigan Wolverines got back on track with a huge 24-7 victory over the Washington Huskies at the Big House on Saturday, but not every position group played all that great. Nonetheless, let’s hand out some position grades following the win.
Quarterbacks: B+
Bryce Underwood had a quality day at the office passing the ball, going 21-of-27 for 230 yards and two touchdowns. However, there were a couple bone-headed plays that come to mind — he took a sack by stepping out of bounds several yards behind the line of scrimmage
when he could have thrown it away, and he misread an RPO on 1st-and-goal at the Washington five yard line in the fourth quarter and lost four yards running the ball. Overall, it was a good day, but there are some things for Underwood to clean up.
Running backs: A
Justice Haynes was sidelined due to the injury he sustained last week at USC, and while the explosive runs weren’t there on Saturday, Jordan Marshall proved he is no slouch either. He ran 23 times for 123 yards and one touchdown, and while his longest gain only went for 14 yards, he churned out some hard-earned yards and picked up 10 first downs. When the Wolverines needed him, Marshall was there time and time again to deliver.
Wide receivers: B-
Andrew Marsh continues to shine, as he caught all five passes that went his way for 49 yards and a touchdown. Donaven McCulley was pretty quiet, only catching two passes on three targets for 31 yards. Semaj Morgan still has hands of stone, as he dropped yet another pass, with this one being on a fourth down that would have easily picked up the first down. Simply put, I don’t need to see Morgan in the pass game ever again. Throw to McCulley, Marsh, and the next group of players we will highlight…
Tight ends: A-
With both Marlin Klein and Hogan Hansen injured and unavailable for this game, the backup tight ends played a great game. Zack Marshall led all pass-catchers with five receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown, while Deakon Tonielli caught three passes for 38 yards. There was one drop early on by Tonielli, hence the A- I am giving this group. Despite that, this was the best game of the season for this group (which is rather interesting considering the top two guys weren’t available in this one).
Offensive line: B-
It was unfortunate that left tackle Evan Link left the game in the first quarter due to a non-contact injury that head coach Sherrone Moore said “doesn’t look too good” in his postgame press conference. Redshirt freshman Blake Frazier played in Link’s absence, and it was an up-and-down day for him, but mostly up. The offensive line only gave up one sack and helped the run game average 4.4 yards per attempt. They didn’t do a whole lot wrong, but they also didn’t stand out. Sometimes, that’s a good thing for the offensive line, and that is the case here.
Defensive line: B
Derrick Moore carried this group on his shoulders, compiling three tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and one forced fumble. He was truly a one-man wrecking crew. As for everybody else…it was crickets outside of one really nice tackle for loss from Trey Pierce and a near-sack by Cameron Brandt, but I don’t give good grades for “almost” plays. Jaishawn Barham also had one tackle for loss early in the game, but was largely a non-factor.
Linebackers: A-
Cole Sullivan and Jimmy Rolder — have a day! Both linebackers compiled an interception apiece, and Rolder led the defense with eight tackles. Ernest Hausmann chipped in seven tackles and a tackle for loss. Overall, it was a really solid game for the linebackers.
Secondary: B
Much like the offense line, nothing really stood out in the secondary. The corners and safeties did a nice job overall containing Demond Williams Jr. (just 209 pass yards) as well as wide receiver Denzel Boston (four catches for 71 yards). There were some busts in coverage at times, especially early in the game, but holding a high quality offense like Washington’s to the statistical output they did bumps my grade from a C up to a B.
Oh, and safety Jacob Oden had a hilarious interception while sitting on his behind.
Special teams: D+
I’m going to be pretty harsh here — while Dominic Zvada nailed a 24-yard field goal to extend Michigan’s lead to three scores late in the game, he did miss a 48-yarder shortly before halftime. After having such a great 2024, Zvada continues to be inconsistent in 2025. Speaking of inconsistent, punter Hudson Hollenbeck had one punt that was fantastic (55 yards) and one that was…not so much (35 yards). Semaj Morgan had one punt return for five yards, continuing his ineffectiveness in this department as well.
