Michigan football stock watch: 'Electric' Semaj Morgan continues to turn heads

Here are the Michigan football members who helped or hurt their stock in the Wolverines' 41-13 win over Purdue on Saturday at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor:

Three up

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Undersized pass catchers: Senior wide receiver Roman Wilson is listed at a generous 6 feet tall while freshman Semaj Morgan stands 5-foot-10, however, neither's lack of physical stature has presented any problems this season. Wilson, in the midst of a breakout season nationally, set career highs with nine catches and 143 yards against Purdue. Wilson caught all but one ball thrown his way, converted seven of his receptions into first downs and three passes that went for 20 yards or more. Meanwhile, Morgan only touched the ball four times, but he sure made them count. Morgan hadn't touched the ball on offense all day, when he caught a bubble screen to the right side of the formation for a four-yard gain. On his next touch, he took an end-around 44 yards for a touchdown up the left sideline, Michigan's biggest offensive play of the day to put U-M up 27-6 with 3:12 to play in the third quarter. He would add another 23-yard grab to cross midfield in the fourth quarter and returned one kickoff for 21 yards. “He's electric,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Ball in his hands, it's got a chance to go the distance. And he's just strong. Not huge in stature. It's not the not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, The guys love him. He’s a spark the way he competes."

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Will Johnson: Still only a sophomore, Will Johnson is likely pound-for-pound U-M's most talented defensive player, which was on display again Saturday. The former five-star from Grosse Pointe was thrown at a season-high eight times, and he allowed just three receptions for a total of 23 yards, a long of 12, and not a single first down. "Will Johnson, big-time game," Harbaugh said early in his postgame Saturday. "He was playing good down after down, right from the start." Johnson, who was credited with two stops, also had two pass breakups and the play of the game defensively, an interception late in the first quarter. Johnson was in line for another in the end zone, which he said would've been "the easiest" pick of his career, but safety Rod Moore deflected it. Johnson graded out as U-M's top defender according to Pro Football Focus(88.7) and finished tied for second on the team with 50 snaps.

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Competition: Next week, there is at least a decent chance Michigan will be tested on the football field. That hasn't happened yet this season and Saturday was no different. U-M was up 17-0 less than 11 minutes into the game and though it allowed a season-high 13 points, there was no real cause for concern. The first three points came after a muffed punt when a weird bounce hit Quentin Johnson's back. The next three points came after U-M's offense was stuffed on fourth-and-1 on its own 34; a decision Harbaugh implied he made given the nature of the competition. The final score, as so many have been this year, came in the closing seconds of the game and did nothing but mess up box scores, game stories, and possibly record books. However, that's all done now, with the Wolverines set to travel to Happy Valley for a clash with top-10 Penn State. The last time U-M played at Beaver Stadium, Cade McNamara found Erick All on a 47-yard game-winning touchdown with 3:29 to play.

Three down

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Drops: Going forward, the Wolverines simply can't have as many drops as they did vs. the Boilermakers. Though PFF listed three drops, frankly, there were four. The first came on the first play of the second quarter, when the ball bounced off Donovan Edwards' hands on a route to the flat. That's the one PFF classified as an incompletion. Two plays later, McCarthy dropped back on third-and-8, and this time threw a ball that looked like it would've resulted in a first down, but it went through AJ Barner's hands. On U-M's next possession, the Wolverines had perhaps their most crucial drop of the day. Facing first-and-10 from the Purdue 15, McCarthy threw a pass to Cornelius Johnson that was a tad high, but the would-be touchdown bounced off Johnson's mitts and fell incomplete with no defenders around him. The Wolverines had to settle for a field goal moments later. Last was Wilson, who was great on the night, but he dropped a first down pass early in the third quarter which led to U-M's only three-and-out of the game.

Ground game: The sack-adjusted rushing totals of 31 carries for 144 yards (4.6 yards per attempt) and five touchdowns doesn't look on paper like a team that's struggling to run the ball. But anybody who watched saw it was tough sledding for U-M. The two longest runs of the day came on a 44-yard end-around by Morgan and a 14-yard run by Johnson. On the other 27 attempts by U-M's three lead running backs in Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings, the Wolverines managed just 85 yards (3.1 yards per rush). Corum scored three times to move into a tie for second place in U-M history with 47 touchdowns, however, his 44 yards were the fewest in his career when he had 15 or more carries. Corum had just one carry for more than five yards while nine of his 12 non-scoring runs were deemed "inefficient" by going for three yards or fewer. Edwards meanwhile did find the end zone from one yard out in the fourth quarter, but still ran eight times for just 21 total yards. Six of his seven non-scoring runs were also "inefficient," and he had just one run go for more than three yards, a seven-yard effort in the fourth quarter. Mullings, in his first game in nearly a month, took his first carry of the day for 14 yards, but that was the highlight. His second carry went for four yards, his third carry gained just two and his final run of the day was when he got stuffed on fourth-and-1, which led to a turnover on downs.

Clarity: Not like we thought we'd get any, but there's still zero clarity on the future of Michigan football amidst a sign-stealing scandal that's taken over the college football landscape since the news first broke Oct. 19. A host of reporters approached U-M athletic director Warde Manuel after the Purdue game, who declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation. After multiple failed attempts to get him to budge, U-M's AD said, "what part of no comment (isn't clear)." Harbaugh also didn't provide any answers. To be fair, their hands are pretty tied during an active investigation, but neither even tipped their hand as far as whether they've been told if any potential sanctions would come down this season, in the future, or if that's still yet to be determined. There are a ton of moving parts. The NCAA, the Big Ten, the College Football Playoff committee, which is separate from both. There's the uncomfortable thought of punishing players who didn't know, but then the equally unsettling notion that if there was an unfair playing field, even if U-M's players didn't know about it, other team's players will get the short end of the stick. It's not an enjoyable exercise for any (except for those of rival fanbases, of course) and even though the B1G commissioner was in town and met with U-M president Santa Ono to discuss the fiasco, the future remains murky.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football stock watch: Semaj Morgan continues to turn heads