Michigan Football: Grades, game balls from Wolverines win over ECU

Special teams: C

Jake Moody definitely wasn’t available on Saturday and you could tell. James Turner missed a 52-yard field goal in the second half. He did make one from 50, which was good to see, but the transfer from Louisville also missed an extra point.

Frankly, I don’t understand the choice of Jake Thaw as punt returner. There has to be a better option than that. He had three returns for six yards and taking that position from a strength to a weakness isn’t acceptable.

Tommy Doman did a solid job on two punts and the coverage units were stellar as always. But it wasn’t the typical special teams performance we’ve seen the past two years.

Coaching: A-

I’d to see more creativity near the goal line…still. But I thought Jesse Minter did fine managing the game as the interim head coach.

There weren’t any glaring mistakes in terms of his game management. Minter also did a good job of protecting McCarthy and others by taking them out when the game was out of reach.

The objective was to win the game. Not win by 60. The defense also didn’t skip a beat, even without multiple starters on the bench.

Michigan’s task is to survive without Jim Harbaugh and one game is in the books.