Michigan Football: Grading the Wolverines post Wisconsin disaster

The offense

Limited to 14 points and zero in the first half, here are the grades for the 2-1 Wolverine’s offense.

Quarterbacks

Grade: D+

After allowing Badger running back, Jonathan Taylor, free reign to the endzone, the Wolverine offense took the field and Shea Patterson immediately hit Ronnie Bell on a rollout for 68 yards. And then playcalling got in the way.

Ben Mason, a staple in the backfield since 2017, was excised from the Josh Gattis offense. That is until the Wolverines couldn’t convert on short-yardage situations. Instead of keeping Mason as a running option early on, the coaching staff told him to switch to the opposite side of the line and gain weight.

Gattis – or Harbaugh – thought Big Ben, who hasn’t seen a single second on offense all season, should carry the ball on the next play. It went as well as expected.

Mason fumbled and everything fell apart. Shea ended the day 14-32 and 219 yards. Patterson was pulled in favor of Dylan McCaffrey for a moment until Dylan suffered a concussion. Down 28-0, none of it mattered.

Running backs

Grade: C-

How do you grade running backs when there were no holes for them to run through and no designed plays that make sense? You don’t.

On three rushes, Dylan led the team with 21 yards. Christian Turner carried the ball six times for 17 yards and star running back Zach Charbonnet was nowhere to be seen.

Wide receivers

Grade: B-

The one bright spot for this team was the emergence of Ronnie Bell. The incredible diving catch by Bell is a sign of hope for things to come even though it was called back post booth review.

The former NFL Vice President of Officiating, Mike Pereira didn’t agree with the call. In fact, Mike said if the call on the field was no catch, he would have reversed it.

Tight ends

Grade: B-

The tight ends and receivers combined for 256 yards on 15 catches and Sean McKeon was the recipient of one of the two passing touchdowns. On top of that, he averaged 12 yards per catch.

Offensive line

Grade: D-

The warning signs were present.

“So far, really exciting. Up tempo, we’re on the ball, it’s really quick, no thinking,” Offensive lineman Runyan said before the season. “We’re getting signals and calls and getting plays called in rapid succession. We’re hitting our stride right now and seeing this whole thing come together, really enjoying it.”

On every play, each man on the field needs to be assessing and analyzing what those opposing eleven players are doing. The linemen must think critically and to place them in an environment without the ability leads to two sacks and seven quarterback hurries.

Atrocious play-calling and awful execution.