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Michigan football is back to its losing ways in the 2020 season. Despite it ending its three-game losing streak to Rutgers last week, Michigan couldn’t figure out what to do against Penn State this week, losing 27-17. The Wolverines couldn’t come back down 17-7 at halftime like they were able to last week as the Nittany Lions were too much for them.
Michigan had an injury with its starting quarterback in Cade McNamara early on in the game, which brought in backup Joe Milton for a while before McNamara returned. The return wouldn’t last long, though, as Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh pulled him in the fourth quarter due to his injury. The position needed some consistency, and it once again failed to live up to its expectations.
The defense made some stops and slowed down Penn States offense, but even with just two running backs, the Nittany Lions didn’t have trouble putting up points on the Wolverines. While the defense didn’t perform great, it wasn’t as bad as the offense was overall. Check out my grades from the loss to Penn State below.
Offense
Quarterback: C-
McNamara had a rough go at it as the starter. He had a good start with only one bad throw, but he started to perform worse once he got injured. McNamara couldn’t throw the football downfield, and the short throws weren’t moving the chains. He finished going 12-for-25 for 91 yards.
Milton came in for McNamara when he was injured and when McNamara was pulled in the fourth quarter. His performance wasn’t much better, going 1-for-3 for 21 yards. Milton’s two incomplete passes were poor throws and not what the team needed to see with him back in. Neither turned the football over, which is helpful, but it was not a great performance with under 100 yards for each.
Running Back: B
Michigan football has seemed to have thrown the running back committee type of ground game out the window this week. Hassan Haskins is the starting running back, and he won’t give that job up, finishing with 17 carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Chris Evans was the next man up with four carries for 35 yards, while Blake Corum had three carries for 27 yards. Zach Charbonnet never saw the field, out with an undisclosed ailment.
Wide Receiver: C-
No wide receiver could find the end zone this week, and there were very few plays from the group. Ronnie Bell once again led the group with four catches for 40 yards. Freshman A.J. Henning made a big catch for 28 yards, finishing with three for 31 yards. Cornelius Johnson had two catches for 15 yards. Mike Sainristil had a game to forget with a drop and a muffed punt.
Tight End: C-
After performing well last week, the tight end group was silent against the Nittany Lions. Erick All had a catch for eight yards, while Nick Eubanks had a catch for six yards. The blocking could’ve been better from the duo, but it wasn’t as bad as it was in weeks past.
Offensive line: C-
While starting left tackle Ryan Hayes was active, he didn’t play. Right tackle Jalen Mayfield and center Andrew Vastardis were still out with injuries. The line did a good job keeping both quarterbacks upright despite facing a strong Penn State front seven, but outside of the big 59-yard run by Haskins, they could only help muster up 115 yards on the ground. Short yardage situations on third and fourth down were challenging for the group to gain as they weren’t able to push the defensive line back when it mattered most in the fourth quarter on the fourth and one run by Milton.