Michigan Football: Grading the Wolverines win against Penn State

Defense: A

As much attention as the running game is getting, Michigan football was damn good on defense too on Saturday. If you take away the 60-yard run from Sean Clifford, Penn State had one other scoring drive and it featured a 48-yard pass play.

Not once did Penn State put together a sustained drive for points. Even with a 48-yarder, Penn State averaged 5.4 yards per pass attempt and completed 12-of-29 passes. Nick Singleton was made to be invisible and neither of Penn State’s highly touted freshmen got going.

Penn State was also 5-for-16 on conversion attempts and for a veteran quarterback like Clifford, even just finding a completion was tough to do.

The Wolverines got two sacks in the win and the one small negative was that they didn’t force any turnovers. DJ Turner had a shot in the third quarter interception (dropped it) and it would have been a game-changing play, even if it didn’t end up mattering in the end.

Against Ohio State, that play will need to be made. The defense, like the offense, dominated, but there’s another gear to reach, especially when it comes to taking the ball away.