Michigan Football: 3 Studs and 3 Duds against Rutgers

The Michigan football team got back into the win column on Saturday, defeating Rutgers 48-42 in triple overtime. While a win is a win, many fans remain skeptical of the performance as it does carry the caveat of the opponent.

The main takeaway from many out of Michigan football‘s Saturday win over Rutgers was the end of the quarterback controversy. Cade McNamara has taken the job for good after leading the Wolverines on a 17-point comeback victory on the road.

Another positive to glean was the resurgence of the running game and more of a defined running back rotation. Hassan Haskins seems to have taken the the lead back role and — literally — ran with it.

The defense gave up 42 points to Rutgers. There aren’t many positives when looking at that side of the ball, unfortunately.

Let’s get into who this week’s studs and duds were.

Studs

Cade McNamara

Who else would lead off our studs category? As I said above, McNamara has unequivocally taken this starting quarterback job from Joe Milton and barring injury should be the starter for the remainder of the 2020 season at the least.

As far as Saturday goes the second year player was nothing short of amazing. He immediately came in and rescued a previously anemic offense by delivering a touchdown drive on his first possession. He played a mistake free brand of football that the Wolverines have been missing over the past few weeks.

McNamara completed 27 of 36 passes for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air. The running game also seemed to improve under his direction and he even added a rushing score of his own in the second overtime. If the Wolverines offense can continue to improve with a full week of practice this upcoming week, a win over a winless yet talented Penn State squad is definitely in play.

McNamara was unquestionably the biggest bright spot of an otherwise dark and gloomy performance against Rutgers.

For the other studs against Rutgers, click below: