Michigan Football: Grading Wolverines win against Northern Illinois

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Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald watches warmups before a game against Northern Illinois at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (Syndication: Detroit Free Press) /

Defense: A

I’m being really nit-picky with this one because the defense was really good on Saturday. Michigan football nearly pitched a shutout, at least until it was garbage time.

Northern Illinois scored three points early in the game and it looked like the Huskies were going to find some success, just like against Western Michigan when it scored in the first quarter.

But after that, Northern Illinois didn’t do anything. It created only a few plays over 10 yards and wouldn’t have scored without Rocky Lombardi’s long run in the fourth quarter. The Huskies’ running game went nowhere and they didn’t even reach 50 yards passing.

The Wolverines also got a turnover thanks to an interception by Gemon Green. That was nice to see and Michigan football needs more of that. They only had three tackles for loss and didn’t get a sack, which isn’t that worrisome, but the lack of impact plays are the only thing keeping this from being a truly great defense.

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