Michigan football grades vs. UNLV: Solid marks for pass game prowess, defensive dominance

Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia grades Michigan football on a scale of A to F after the Wolverines' 35-7 win over UNLV in Week 2, Saturday afternoon at Michigan Stadium:

Offense: B-plus

Michigan's passing offense, for the second consecutive week, was nearly flawless. While a U-M spokesman said there's no record logged for the most consecutive completions to begin a game, J.J. McCarthy's 13 on Saturday is at minimum the longest such stretch in the Harbaugh era. Michigan's quarterback moved the ball effortlessly all afternoon, completing 22 of 25 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns and had another 38 rushing yards on three carries. HIs favorite target, Roman Wilson, caught just four passes but finished with a team-high 89 receiving yards and both touchdowns. The second score was the play of the day, as McCarthy hit him in stride on a 47-yard crossing pattern that he took the distance. But the rushing game wasn't dominant. U-M had 27 rushes for 170 yards (6.3 yards per carry) when its starters left the field at the end of the third quarter, but while those numbers sound decent, keep in mind FCS-Bryant ran 39 times for 202 yards (not counting a bad punt) a week ago against UNLV. Donovan Edwards had six carries for just 9 yards and U-M only had two carries by a running back that went for more than 10 yards.

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Defense: A-minus

For the second week in a row, Michigan could've had a shutout, but instead played its third-string defense for the fourth quarter and allowed points. Otherwise, U-M's defense was next-to flawless. After not recording a sack in the first game, U-M got home five times on Saturday, all which came in the first 20 plays of the game to set the tone. As a team, the Wolverines also finished with 10 tackles for loss and in the first three quarters, during which UNLV had 106 total yards (just 6 on the ground). Kenneth Grant, a sophomore defensive tackle, needs to be singled out through two weeks. He had four sacks including a team-high 2½ for loss (1½ of which were sacks) and a pass break up, but frankly, the entire defensive line was dominant. Mason Graham (five tackles, 1½ sacks), Jaylen Harrell (five tackles, 1½ sacks), Braiden McGregor (five tackles, 1½ for loss), Kris Jenkins (five tackles, ½ sack) and Derrick Moore (one sack) all wreaked havoc.

Special teams: C

On a day where a lot went right for U-M, Special teams was far from crisp. Tommy Doman sent the kickoff out of bounds to set up UNLV at its 35. UNLV punt returner Jacob De Jesus appeared to be bottled up inside the 15, but was able to break two tackles before a 20-plus-yard return. On what appeared to be Doman's best punt of the day — a near 50-yarder in the fourth quarter to pin the Rebels inside their own 5 — Michigan was flagged for an illegal snap. The next punt went to the 18. There were a few bright spots. James Turner made all five of his extra points, Jake Thaw returned a punt for 19 yards and in the second half, Semaj Morgan and Kalel Mullings had kickoff returns of 28 and 26 yards, respectively.

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Coaching: B-plus

For the second time in as many weeks, Michigan's interim head coach proved to be the "guardian of victory" — only this time, there were two. Special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh handled the first half while running backs coach Mike Hart took over after halftime. The first half was clean and tidy: there touchdowns in four drives, the lone time U-M failed to score was on a fourth-and-2 inside the UNLV red zone, but an inside run was stopped 12 inches short. Defensively, the Wolverines held UNLV to just 42 yards in the first half. While the coaching flip at half seemed to present a minor hiccup, U-M punted twice in the first three drives, it didn't take long to get the momentum going again. Even on little decisions — like keeping Jack Tuttle out of the game after he was temporarily hurt on his lone rush, he wanted to come back in but Hart said afterwards "what's the point" of risking his health — the staff treated them carefully. One unnecessary roughness call kept a drive alive, another penalty nullified the best field position changee of the day, but for the most part it was a clean game for U-M.

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football grades vs. UNLV: Sacks, passing game carry the day