Michigan football notched a ho-hum victory over Wisconsin on Saturday. The defense was impressive, especially after the first drive.
The offense didn't score as many points as it should have. Michigan football should have scored at least 30 on Wisconsin with 445 yards of total offense, 175 coming on the ground.
Sort of like the 2021 team early in the season, Michigan's offense has left some meat on the bone. Considering that Michigan football is 4-1 and 2-0 in the Big Ten, that's not a bad place to be.
Looking back at the Wolverines Week 6 win over Wisconsin, here is the latest stock report.
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Andrew Marsh
Marsh caught four passes for 80 yards. He even had a nice block and started to look less like a freshman. His improvement has been drastic since Week 1, when Bryce Underwood threw a ball his way on an RPO and Marsh wasn't even looking.
You could see why the former four-star recruit was so highly touted coming out of high school. He's not Donaven McCulley in the sense of being 6-foot-5. However, Marsh is big enough to win jump balls and athletic enough to be a terror after the catch.
Sherrone Moore said Monday that he's earned more opportunities. Frankly, after McCulley and maybe Marlin Klein, he should be getting most of the targets. The future is bright and for Michigan football, the future is also now with Marsh.
Rod Moore
If Rod Moore, the two-time All-Big Ten selection wasn't on the field against Wisconsin, it could have been a much closer game.
Moore broke up a screen pass in the first quarter that would have gone for a huge gain or a touchdown. He also made a great read in the third quarter on a trick play. Brandyn Hillman took the bait, as did most of the Michigan defense.
Moore didn't and made the tackle after a five-yard gain. Without Moore, one or both of those plays could have been touchdowns. They at least would have gotten the Badgers into field goal range.
Moore also made a great break on the ball to make an interception. The senior played just 18 snaps, yet made three big plays. Once he gets off the pitch count, Moore should be playing every snap.
The defense is just different with him out there. More than the physical stuff, Moore is the quarterback of the defense.
Michigan fans have to hope he's full bore on Saturday night against USC.
Bryce Underwood
There wasn't a ton of talk about Bryce Underwood after this game, but I was really impressed. If it weren't for three drops, Michigan would have scored more points. Bryce also would have had his first 300-yard game as a Wolverine.
However, I'll take 282 total yards, one touchdown pass and zero turnovers. Underwood doesn't have gaudy numbers yet but he's moving in that direction. Wisconsin's pass defense isn't great. Still, Underwood worked through his progressions, and outside of the ball slipping from his hand, it never really felt in danger.
You can see him growing into the role each week. Coming out of the bye, he felt even more comfortable. He's started to have a connection with McCulley, Marsh, and Marlin Klein. I wish Michigan would have thrown 19 times in the first half as it did in the second, but it feels like Bryce is really close to a breakout performance.
The fact that 282 yards and zero turnovers seems like a shoulder shrug says a lot about the true freshman. So does the fact that he has one interception in five games.
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Andrew Sprague
It was a rough game for the right tackle. The redshirt freshman had some redshirt freshman moments. More than once, his defender beat him into the backfield.
When you are man-blocking, it makes it hard to get going. Regardless, you can't let a guy beat you across your face to the backfield. Sprague did finally adjust. He's learning on the job much like Underwood.
So this is nothing to panic about. There's been nothing that makes you believe it was more than one bad game, which should help him learn what to do and how to improve in the long run.
It was a rough game, though.
Dominic Zvada
For the second time this season, Zvada missed a chip-shot field goal. Actually, considering his range, it was the third time this season.
It just can't continue to happen. Zvada was supposed to be a weapon. For a team built on defense, the kicker missing opportunities to score points is damaging. It didn't hurt Michigan in this game, but in the Oklahoma game for instance, the final drive feels different if its 24-16.
Hopefully, he will get it corrected, but he has missed enough field goals that it's become a concern, at least one to keep an eye on moving forward.