Highlights, reactions to Michigan Football’s spring game

Michigan football held its annual spring game on Saturday and here are some highlights from the Blue team’s win over the Maize, as well as some reactions. 

Spring ball wrapped up for Michigan football on Saturday and the Wolverines played an actual game inside the Big House.

We only saw Cade McNamara for a few series and didn’t see J.J. McCarthy at all, except for holding for kicks, but it was an exciting day for the Wolverines as the Blue beat the Maize 20-12.

The game literally went down to the final play as Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh enacted some unique rules such as allowing a fourth-and-10 attempt in place of an onside kick.

While the second half was reserved mostly for the young guys as Harbaugh said it would earlier this week. He called it, “An environment of energy” after the game and it was exactly that with guys like Donovan Edwards setting the tone.

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Yet, the defense turned heads early too. Most Michigan football fans expected the offense to dominate but that wasn’t the case and two-way player Mike Sainristil showed why he’s playing both ways on this pass breakup in the first quarter.

When Josh Gattis went to Miami, we all wondered what the play-calling would look like. Well, the trick plays clearly aren’t going anywhere as we learned from this pass by Erick All to true freshman tight end Colston Loveland.

That eventually led to a touchdown run by Tavierre Dunlap, who is trying to serve as the power back in a backfield with Blake Corum and Edwards. Corum flashed in some quick first-half work but Dunlap did a solid job too.

Then, in the second half, with Davis Warren and Alan Bowman playing quarterback for each team, we got even more fireworks as Darrius Clemons, another true freshman, showed why he’s generated so much buzz this spring.

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And, as if Michigan football didn’t have enough non-quarterbacks who can throw, Clemons can do that too.

There were also some killer celebrations such as the limbo after the final touchdown of the day, although Harbaugh had some fun of his own forcing a penalty flag to be thrown.

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Those were the highlights and here are some instant impressions:

Rapid reactions to Michigan football’s spring game

• The defense was much better than expected.
• Mike Morris was as good as advertised. The entire defensive line was.
• The running game was good too and that’s still going to be the bread and butter.
• Cade McNamara was a little disappointing but it’s spring ball.
• The wide receiver room is as talented as it’s been in decades.
• A ton of freshmen stood out. This was an elite class of recruits.
• The culture that led to so much success last season was on full display. Jim Harbaugh was having a blast and his players were too. Playing an actual game was a great idea.
• Michigan might not see much drop-off on defense at all.
• The Wolverines also have some depth at QB beyond Cade and McCarthy.
• Alex Orji’s development will be fun to watch. Good to see another mobile quarterback.
• Kalel Mullings was impressive too as a two-way guy. The running back depth and need for a power back doesn’t seem that urgent.
• Edge rusher isn’t an urgent need either. Taylor Upshaw, TJ Guy, Morris, Braiden McGregor, and Derrick Moore all flashed.
• The interior pass rush was impressive too. Kris Jenkins, George Rooks, and Mazi all played well inside. All that talent is starting to shine up front.
• Michigan football is in a very good place headed to the fall.
• We’ll have more analysis soon — Go Blue!