Grading Michigan Football’s defense/special teams vs Minnesota

Secondary: B+

The secondary actually did a pretty solid job, but I’m going to be a tough grader this week and leave it at a B-Plus, simply because of some missed opportunities on interceptions, as well as some lapses in coverage.

Allowing Bateman to get 100 yards wasn’t a huge surprise but he didn’t do as much damage as he could have done. There were a couple of frustrating penalties and outside of a couple of dropped interceptions, the young guys such as Gemon Green stood out.

Jim Harbaugh said that both Vincent Gray and Green graded out highly, so I would expect them to be the top two guys going forward. Freshman Makari Paige needs to tackle better and allowed a big run because he missed on Ibrahim, but he will be better.

Special teams: C

The special teams weren’t all bad, thanks to Barrett, who set up a score for Michigan football with a long kickoff return, but otherwise, it wasn’t a strong effort.

For starters, Michigan had a punt blocked after its first offensive possession, teeing up a touchdown for Minnesota early in the game. On top of that, kicker Jake Moody left a bunch of points on the board with three missed field goals.

Obviously, it’s the first game and that means nothing is going to be perfect, but the offense put together a nice drive at the end of the half, only to have it come up with nothing. Two other trips to the red zone, which resulted in field goal attempts, also ended with zero points.

That just can’t happen and that could mean Quinn Nordin, if healthy, gets his shot this week.