Michigan football grades: Coaching earns top mark possible in memorable win at Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia grades Michigan football on a scale of A to F after the Wolverines' 24-15 over Penn State on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium:

Offense: A-minus

There are days where the box score doesn't tell the story and this was certainly one of them. J.J. McCarthy was 7-for-8 passing for 60 yards, which might not help his Heisman Trophy campaign, but it was all U-M needed him to do on this afternoon. The Wolverines tried to pass the ball on the first two drives on third-and-long and McCarthy was hit twice as U-M was forced to punt on each occasion. From there, U-M adapted and finished the game with 32 consecutive rushing attempts — the most consecutive rushing attempts by a non-military program since 2018 — to neutralize Penn State's pass rush that ranked No. 2 in the nation with 38 sacks. And it worked.

Blake Corum ran 26 times for a season-best 145 yards and two touchdowns, Donovan Edwards had his most effective day of the season with 10 carries for 52 yards and a score, and McCarthy did enough, running eight times for 34 yards. Though U-M punted a season-high five times, it was partially by design. The Wolverines felt Penn State's offense couldn't move the ball, so they made sure they didn't turn the ball over and help the Nittany Lions with solid field position. U-M went 6-for-13 on third downs, 1-for-1 on fourth down and scored touchdowns both times it got into the red zone. "At the end of the day, we do whatever it takes to win," Sherrone Moore, the game day head coach with Jim Harbaugh suspended, said. "Sometimes it's throwing it more, sometimes it's running ... as we got in the game, run game became priority and I think our guys up front asserted themselves to be dominant."

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Defense: A-minus

For the first time this season, an opponent made it inside Michigan's 10-yard line and Penn State did so twice. The first time, the Nittany Lions were forced to kick a field goal after U-M forced consecutive incompletions on second- and third-and-goal. On the next try, quarterback Drew Allar threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Theo Johnson, however that came with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Allar also had an 11-yard touchdown run late in the first half, but outside of those three possessions, the Nittany Lions did nothing against U-M's top ranked defense.

Michigan held Allar to 10-for-22 passing for 70 yards, and the group stymied Penn State's rushing attack, holding the Nittany Lions to 56 rushing yards in the second half. Prior to PSU's final drive, when it went 10 plays and 75 yards — a drive aided after a Michigan interception was overturned and the defense was flagged for two penalties — coach James Franklin's offense had five drives in the second half: a fumble, three punts and a turnover on downs, a total of 23 plays that netted 47 yards (2.1 per play). Makari Paige had a team-high six tackles and a forced fumble, Rod Moore also had six tackles including one for a loss, Jalen Harrell had five tackles and a TFL, and Rayshaun Benny had three tackles, a TFL and forced fumble.

Special teams: C-plus

There was nothing spectacular about the effort, but on a day against a well-rounded team, the goal of special teams is to not make any costly mistakes. Tommy Doman was busier than usual with five punts, however his performance wasn't nearly that of a week ago when all four of his kicks pinned the opponent inside its 12. This time, Doman pinned Penn State inside its 20 just once and had a long punt of 47 yards. His average kick went just 39.2 yards. Yet all five of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. James Turner made a 22-yard field goal late in the third quarter and all three of his extra point attempts, and Jake Thaw returned three punts for a total of 7 yards. The coverage unit allowed just 8 yards on two punt returns.

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Coaching: A-plus

Is there a grade better than A-plus? We'd like to give that if possible. The Michigan football team was on its plane, not even 24 hours before kickoff when it got word the Big Ten had suspended Harbaugh for the three remaining regular season games. The University of Michigan Board of Regents and Harbaugh immediately filed for a temporary restraining order, but the injunction was not granted in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court and instead delayed until it could be heard on Friday at 9 a.m.

That meant Harbaugh was officially out and Moore was in; a plan which had been put in place earlier in the week in case of emergency. All U-M did from there was go on the road in front of 110,856 fans — the second-largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history — and snatch their soul by winning a game without passing for the final 37 minutes and 41 seconds. "This university, these fans, this place is like home to me," Moore said. "I work extremely hard as we all do, so it meant a lot for us to get this win in this situation. ... We have elite players, an elite university, I'm just so happy for them."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football grades: Coaching leads way in memorable win over PSU