Michigan Football: Grading Wolverines win over Indiana

Handing out grades for Michigan football’s 29-7 win over Indiana on Saturday. 

The Michigan football team earned its eighth win of the season Saturday night at the Big House and in the process, got some revenge on Indiana for the loss in Bloomington last season.

But this certainly felt like an Indiana game for the Wolverines. The Hoosiers, especially under Tom Allen, have played Michigan tough over the years and while U-M controlled things from the start, it wasn’t the blowout some were probably hoping it would be.

Missing out on red-zone opportunities helped keep Indiana within 2-3 scores. Michigan was also really banged up missing Erick All, Blake Corum, Andrel Anthony, A.J. Henning, Donovan Edwards, and Gemon Green on defense at one time or another.

Hopefully, some of those guys can return against Penn State this Saturday in a monumental game for the Wolverines as they try to keep pace in the Big Ten East.

Before we look ahead to the Nittany Lions though, here’s one last look at Michigan football’s win over Indiana with our weekly grades.

Offense: B-

I’m not going to get too nitpicky with the offense. Michigan racked up over 400 yards of offense and scored 29 points, which isn’t great but you can’t complain that much about just missing 30 points. With the way the Wolverines defend, that will be good enough most of the time.

The running game was particularly sound and Hassan Haskins deserves a game ball after rushing for 168 yards. His 62-yard run was a thing of beauty and he’s running the ball as well as anyone not named Kenneth Walker in the Big Ten right now.

I’d love to see him get 20 carries per game from here on out. This offense is at its best when it can ground and pound.

Normally, Cade McNamara is efficient on third downs but on Saturday, Michigan football was a combined 3-of-13 on third/fourth-down conversions, as well as 3 of 6 (on scoring TDs) in the red zone.

That’s why the grade is what it is. J.J. McCarthy didn’t add much of a spark and was used in a curious fashion by the coaching staff.

What they should do is give him a package of 5-10 plays, as Florida used to do with Tim Tebow. Obviously, McCarthy is a much more talented passer but focus on specific plays where he can help the offense such as running in short-yardage or in the red zone.

That needs to improve and so does the pass blocking. McNamara and McCarthy were sacked three times and pressured a bunch — against Indiana. Penn State is loaded on defense and outside of Wisconsin and Michigan, might have the best unit in the Big Ten.

So the offensive line play needs to be better next week. The quarterbacks need to play better too, especially on the money downs.