Michigan football rolled to a 28-point win over UNLV on Saturday and here are five things we learned about the Wolverines this week.
For the second straight week, Michigan football failed to cover the spread, which might be one of the few negatives from a stellar 35-7 win over UNLV.
Michigan football once again allowed a late touchdown to spoil a shutout. But it’s hard to find much to complain about. When the starters left the game, it was 35-0.
J.J. McCarthy had another remarkable showing and the running game put together a better showing than it had in Week 1.
All in all, it was a good, clean game for Michigan football, and here are five things that we learned from the Wolverines’ win over UNLV.
No fluke for J.J. McCarthy
If you had any doubts about McCarthy’s Week 1 performance, J.J. basically repeated it. The Michigan football quarterback missed one pass in the first half and was 22-of-25 in the entire game.
It’s obvious that he’s taken his game to another level, just like we predicted that he would. People laughed when I said McCarthy would be a top-10 pick in the 2024 NFL draft this summer. But who’s laughing now?
McCarthy is playing as well as any quarterback in the country. You can see how the arm surgery before his sophomore season impacted him. He’s just so much more confident throwing the ball. It’s like it’s on a rope.
McCarthy also threw a 47-yard touchdown and made some truly incredible throws. When Jim Harbaugh said he was a once-in-a-generation quarterback for Michigan football, he was right and the proof has been in the pudding so far this season.
I have confidence this play will continue and you can just see that McCarthy is different this season and the kind of different that could lead to a national championship.
The running game got right
With McCarthy having such a stellar day, the rushing production took a bit of a backseat, but the opening drive looked really good.
In fact, Blake Corum looked really good. Not only did he have a productive day with 80 yards and two rushing touchdowns, but he also looked more explosive. The offensive line also did a solid job of opening holes and controlled the line of scrimmage.
Donovan Edwards didn’t really get going, but Corum had 15 carries for 80 yards. The offensive line pounded in the first two touchdowns and it just looked more like last season’s run game.
It’s great to see more balance, but Michigan football needs to be able to ground and pound when necessary, and Saturday re-instilled confidence in that, not that it ever wavered.
The pass rush is just fine
It was as if Michigan football defenders heard the chatter about the lack of sacks against East Carolina, because the pass rush came out on fire on Saturday, notching five sacks in the first half.
Kenneth Grant was basically unblockable. The dude had two sacks. He also had some pressures last week and his pass-rush development is promising. Kris Jenkins got in the backfield too, as did Mason Graham.
Jaylen Harrell had 1.5 sacks on the edge and Derrick Moore toasted a UNLV tackle to get on the board for a sack too.
The defense did give some up some chunk plays later on, but allowed just 42 yards in the first half and that was due in large part to the way the defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage.
Michigan football did the same thing last week. The Wolverines just didn’t have the sacks to show for it. This week, they made up for that and any concerns about the pass rush, seem silly.
Fast start shows focus
It would be easy to say, it’s just UNLV. To be fair, the Running Rebels aren’t a powerhouse or anything but Michigan football looked exactly like it should in a game like this.
Even without head coach Jim Harbaugh, Michigan started the game with its hair on fire. The Wolverines had 280 yards in the first half compared to just 42 yards for UNLV.
Michigan had five sacks compared to zero. U-M also notched seven tackles for loss to one and held the ball for 18 of the 30 minutes in the first half.
It just shows that the leadership on this team is for real. So are the assistant coaches. I absolutely believe that Jay Harbaugh, Mike Hart, Sherrone Moore, and Jesse Minter will be head coaches sooner rather than later.
Each has performed well so far. Moore will get his chance to be the interim head coach next week and his presence was felt in the playcalling on Saturday, especially with the ground attack.
It was just impressive the way that Michigan handled its business on Saturday. It looked like a national championship team and the first-team defense still hasn’t allowed a point, while McCarthy is completing about 88 percent of his passes with five touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Michigan’s WR depth is just fine
Going into the season, one question mark raised by pundits was the wide receiver position and the supposed lack of talent Michigan football had.
Well, after two games, I’d say that was overblown. Roman Wilson had two more touchdowns, which included a 47-yarder where he flashed his run-after-the-catch ability. His route-running is stellar and he’s always had speed.
That’s two weeks in a row that Wilson has gone over 75 yards receiving. Cornelius Johnson wasn’t far behind catching five passes for 82 yards. Johnson is constantly underrated. Both of those guys are NFL receivers and Colston Loveland is a future pro as well.
Darrius Clemson and Tyler Morris are still coming on, but don’t believe for a second that the Wolverines lack playmakers at wide receiver.
Morris actually had three catches for 40 yards on Saturday. Plus, freshman Semaj Morgan had one for 36 yards. All three freshman wideouts have turned heads so far, but the majority of balls will go to Wilson, Johnson, Loveland, and Donovan Edwards and I’m just fine with that.