In our final look back at the Michigan football win over East Carolina, here are our grades and game balls from the Wolverines win.
Michigan football didn’t wind up covering the spread against East Carolina, but the outcome of the game was never in doubt.
The Wolverines removed starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy at the end of the third quarter and there were times in the second half when it felt like U-M was going through the motions.
It would be hard for this Michigan football team to have the same energy without head coach Jim Harbaugh. He’s an important part of the Wolverines’ success for a reason. But there are just two more games without him, and Michigan football was just fine on Saturday.
J.J. McCarthy was spectacular. The defense was stellar too and would have had a shutout if East Carolina wasn’t determined to avoid the shutout.
Looking back at the 30-3 win for the Wolverines, here are the game balls and grades for Michigan football against East Carolina.
Game Balls for East Carolina: Roman, J.J. and Mikey
We are going to hand out three games for every game that Michigan football wins this season. On Saturday, two of them are going to offensive players: J.J. McCarthy and Roman Wilson.
Wilson caught three touchdowns in the win for Michigan football. He also lived up to the billing of wearing the No. 1 moving forward.
Wilson caught six passes for 78 yards. McCarthy threw for 280 yards and set a Michigan football record for completion percentage at 87 percent. He also had three touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
Mike Sainristil also gets a game ball. Mikey came up with a big play in the first half and it was another reminder of just how good he is. The former wide receiver has a bright NFL future and he’s as good a nickel defender as there is in college football.
Now to the grades from the 30-3 win for the Wolverines.
Offense: B+
The game featured just 117 plays and Michigan football had just 62. The Wolverines finished with 402 yards and had 280 through the air.
However, it wasn’t a perfect day. Michigan struggled to establish the running game. Blake Corum ripped off a pair of explosive runs, including a 37-yarder in the second quarter. Still, Michigan averaged just 3.9 yards per attempt and was stuffed at the goal line at the end of the third.
McCarthy was spectacular. He completed 12-of-15 passes on throws 10 yards or more downfield and he proved continually that he won’t be a dink and dunk quarterback in 2023.
The arm talent is elite and it’s good to see the coaching staff utilize it. However, the offensive line needs to be better, and the running backs didn’t look like the best tandem in college football on Saturday.
30 points seems a little lackluster to me and while most teams would be happy with 30 points and 402 total yards, this offense is capable of much more.
Defense: A-
East Carolina got some points on the board during the final drive but it was a dominant effort from the Michigan football defense on Saturday.
The only thing I’m going to deduct for, in terms of the grade, was the lack of pass rush. Michigan didn’t get any sacks on Saturday. The Wolverine also just had a few tackles for loss.
To be fair, East Carolina averaged fewer than five yards per pass attempt. The Pirates also averaged just 3.9 yards per rush and quarterback Mason Garcia was their leading rusher on scrambles with 36 total yards.
East Carolina managed just 12 first downs and didn’t reach 300 total yards. The U-M linebackers look as good as any group in the country. Again, the pass rush needs to be better but East Carolina also did what it could to get rid of the ball and still wasn’t effective.
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.