Grades, game balls for Michigan football against Penn State

Offense: A

Yes, J.J. McCarthy only threw eight passes but who cares? He ran for two key first downs — once on a third down and another time on a fourth down.

That game plan had nothing to do with the coaching staff not trusting McCarthy. He only had one incompletion and zero turnovers. Moore just determined his offensive line was going to run block better than pass block and he doubled down.

In the second half, Michigan football was using eight or sometimes even nine offensive linemen or tight ends in the middle of the field. That was the formation on the game-sealing first down.

On Corum’s second touchdown run — the clincher — the Wolverines also had eight guys near the line of scrimmage. The offensive line is a strength and those guys proved they can still run the ball against anyone.

Jim Harbaugh said he wanted to be able to run the ball like Georgia — which means being able to do it no matter the situation. Saturday was that situation and it worked.

It was gorgeous and maybe Georgia is the only other team that could have done it.