Michigan Football: Highlights and impressions from Wolverines spring game

Michigan football held its spring scrimmage Saturday at the Big House and here is some instant analysis of what we saw from the Wolverines.

Michigan football took the field at the Big House for its annual “spring game” Saturday and I say that because there was limited tackling and it was a very controlled scrimmage.

There was a lot of rotation going on and after watching the team go through drills for about 30 minutes or so, we got the closest thing to live Michigan football that we will see until the fall.

Here are instant impressions from the scrimmage as it happened as well as highlights.

First Drive:

Shea Patterson opened the game at quarterback and true to form, the offense went quickly and without a huddle throughout.

A dart to Ronnie Bell and then another pass across the middle to Mike Sainristil moved the ball near the 10-yard line.

If there was live tackling, the freshman may have scored, instead, the ball was blown dead. Patterson completed a slant pass to Tarik Black but Michigan’s offense was held to a field goal. Jake Moody took the attempt and made it.

Second Drive:

Dylan McCaffrey came out on the second drive and he struggled a little. He threw a pair of incompletions and essentially, the drive would have ended in a punt, however, McCaffrey did have an impressive escape that could have went for more yardage if the scrimmage was more live.

Third Drive:

Patterson was back out there and the drive went south quickly. Michigan football kept rotating through running backs with little success on the ground. Jordan Anthony made the biggest play of the drive and got inside for what would have been a sack. That ended that drive and the offense then went to Joe Milton.

Fourth Drive:

Joe Milton was very impressive on his first drive, completing a 20-yard pass down the sideline to freshman Erick All and following it up with a nice run to the outside as he moved the offense into scoring range.

Early on, the run defense has been looking good and the defensive line is rotating a lot of bodies while getting some pressure out of a number of different looks. Cameron McGrone also made a couple of stops, giving  UM more production from a linebacker.

If we are judging Milton vs McCaffrey, so far, Joe has been a little better but it’s very early and we’ll see how he executes in the red zone.

Milton attempted a fade on third down to Black but it was a little long and he was unable to bring it down. Quinn Nordin came on and made a field goal, keeping the race between kickers neck-and-neck.

Fifth Drive:

Patterson was back under center and after a play-action take, he threw the ball deep to Oliver Martin. The throw was a little off the mark. Maybe a bigger target like Donovan Peoples-Jones may have gotten it. Ambry Thomas did a nice job on coverage.

Sainristil continued to be involved, getting a jet sweep for a couple of yards — I’d expect more of that. Patterson got some pressure and missed a wide-open Sean McKeon on third down, forcing another three-and-out.

That’s three possessions for Patterson and no touchdowns.

Sixth Drive:

McCaffrey got his shot at midfield and showed his athleticism again with a first-down run. That’s an element where he is definitely superior to Patterson. VanSumeren was still with the second group. Josh Gattis is also living up to talk of taking shots as McCaffrey just missed Bell on a throw to the end zone.

McCaffrey moved the chains throwing a dart after a bad overthrow moving the offense into scoring position. McCaffrey kept the ball again on a run, which seems like more of an emphasis. We will see if there are more quarterback runs with Patterson this season.

VanSumeren isn’t a bad runner. He reminds me a lot of Ben Mason. I am just not sure he is a true running back, although he did have a couple of nice runs.  The drive ended in another field goal.

Seventh Drive:

Patterson got the next drive and right away, Khaleke Hudson got in on a blitz, which was the second or third time Michigan football got to Patterson defensively.

Yet, just when the lack of offensive production was getting frustrating, Patterson drilled a strike down the field to Martin for a touchdown. That was a perfect throw and catch.

There was a penalty or they called it dead with a sack. The broadcast was off, however, Patterson threw a short pass to Bell, who forced Josh Metellus to miss a tackle and score.

Bell is one guy that keeps getting overlooked at wide receiver. He made a nice impact last season and he could surprise some people this season in the slot.

Eighth Drive:

Tyler Cochran forced a fumble and the Michigan football defense forced a turnover and that shifted towards the red zone situational drills. The run defense was outstanding all game, which isn’t surprising with Don Brown’s defense.

Ninth Drive (Red Zone):

Michigan struggled in the red zone last season so this was a good look at trying to score points in a tight situation. The first drive saw Patterson throw a jump ball to Black, who didn’t haul it in. He hasn’t been all that impressive. Tru Wilson was then stuffed by Kwity Paye, who has held up well on the edge and hasn’t been easy to move.

On third down, quarterbacks have to make plays and Patterson did that, dropping a dime to McKeon on third down, picking up around 20 yards and more importantly, the first down.

Julian Garrett got a couple of chances to run the ball near the goal line, but he was unable to get the ball into the end zone. Aidan Hutchinson was a force and without Mason, the old short-yardage back, the offense couldn’t get in. Moody kicked another field goal.

10th Drive:

Joe Milton got the next drive near the red zone and blitzing off the edge was McGrone who was credited with the sack. Then, Milton was picked off by Michael Barrett, a former running back that could be a starter down the road as a viper. That was very promising.

11th Drive:

McCaffrey came back in after the interception getting his red-zone opportunity. VanSumeren got a nice run to open the drive up the middle, then it was Wilson who was stopped right away by Devin Gil.

No matter what, all of the linebackers are looking really good. Gil, Jordan Anthony, McGrone, Hudson and Barrett all made big plays.

Finally, the run game got going and with Tru Wilson in there, McCaffrey runs it in for a near touchdown, reminding us all that he is 100 percent healthy or at least looks that way.

Hudson notched what probably would have been his second sack of the spring game. That’s a good sign for a guy who took a step back last season.

Milton came in and Bell caught the touchdown pass. In the backup quarterback battle, I’d say it’s about even. Both McCaffrey and Milton were impressive, which is a good sign for the future.

12th Drive:

Milton again. Nice completion on a rollout pass. Like how he is throwing the ball on the move. Good coverage by Jaylen Kelly-Powell on another end-zone shot to Bell.

Another dump down by Milton. He’s making quick decisions and getting the ball out quick.

Milton with a touchdown pass to Black and it was all Tarik. Good, quick throw by Milton but Black made the guy miss and that is exactly what you mean with the words speed in space. That was a great sign for Michigan football fans.

13th Drive:

Patterson comes back out and that was surprising and the starting quarterback threw a ball up for grabs that gets intercepted by Brad Hawkins, who has been playing in the nickel. That’s the third turnover in what has been an impressive day for the defense.

Live goal line:

Near the end, we saw some live action near the goal line and the first play saw McGrone with another big hit. He was one of the stars of the day in my opinion.

The defensive line dominated on the first two snaps, pushing the offense backward, so I don’t think the defensive front is something we need to worry about. McCaffrey made a nice read and threw for a touchdown pass.

That’s it for the spring scrimmage:

Final thoughts:

The scrimmage lasted for about an hour which wasn’t a surprise, although we did see more of Michigan football’s starters than some might have expected. The running game didn’t really go anywhere and at times, the quarterback play was shaky. Both Patterson and Milton threw interceptions and red-zone struggles returned.

The defense was impressive on all three levels. A number of linebackers stood out with McGrone, Hudson, Barrett and Gil making an impact. Hutchinson was a force up front and really, there was not much movement with the top defensive line group in there.

Black, Bell and Sainristil all had really good moments and it’s not shocking to see the defense a little ahead at this point, especially with the installation of a new offense. We will have much more on the spring game so stay tuned.