Michigan football grades vs. Purdue: Defense does the job, yes, but far from perfect

Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia grades Michigan football on a scale of A to F after the Wolverines' 41-13 win over Purdue on Saturday night at Michigan Stadium:

Offense: B

The start couldn't have gone better, as U-M's opening drive went 76 yards in six plays, J.J. McCarthy completed both of his passes for 57 yards and Blake Corum scored a 2-yard touchdown. On its next possession, U-M put together a seven-play, 67-yard drive — the key moments were a 21-yard pass to Tyler Morris on third down and a 14-yard end-around by Cornelius Johnson to set up first-and-goal — before Corum again scored from 3 yards out. Afterthat, however, U-M netted 100 yards of offense and six points on its final five first-half possessions.

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The second half opened with punts on consecutive possessions for just the second time all season, but the offense then took advantage of solid field position, scoring touchdowns on three of their next four possessions, each in less than three minutes McCarthy completed 24 of 37 passes for a season-high 335 yards, while his teammates picked up 144 yards on 34 rushes (4.6 yards per carry) — though 44 of them came via a Semaj Morgan end-around TD.

Defense: B+

Even though the defense technically gave up 13 points, it's hard to fault Jesse Minter's unit for much of it.

The first three came after the special teams unit muffed a punt to set up Purdue at Michigan's 34. After a first down allowed. the Wolverines held firm. U-M's next possession also set up Purdue around the 34 after a turnover on downs, only for the defense to stop the Boilermakers outside the 10 and force a field goal.

The lowlight came with 18 seconds left. With the Wolverines up by 35 points, Mike Sainristil was beat on a double move for a garbage time touchdown to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive.

The defense had its highlights. Will Johnson made a tough interception on the first play of Purdue's third drive. The unit had nine quarterback hurries, four pass breakups, three tackles-for-loss and a sack. Makari Paige turned in a team-high eight tackles and Michael Barrett had five plus two quarterback hurries Of the 12 Boilermaker drives that began on Purdue's side of the field, 10 ended with a punt and one ended with a turnover.

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Special teams: B-minus

I've got to dock points for the most notable special teams play, midway through the second period. After the Wolverines ended Purdue's seventh straight possession, the punted ball never made it to return man Tyler Morris. Instead, it bounded into the back of Quinten Johnson as he ran downfield to block, and Purdue recovered the muff.

Other than that? James Turner went 2-for-2 on field goals (from 31 and 30 yards) and 5-for-5 on extra points. Tommy Doman punted four times, each seemingly better than the last: he pinned the Boilermakers at their 10, their 12, their 5 and, finally in the fourth quarter, their 3. Jake Thaw also added his best punt return in the third quarter, returning a low liner up the left sideline 32 yards to set up U-M's second score of the second half.

Coaching: A-minus

Distractions? What distractions? The only clearly questionable call of the day was going for it on fourth-and-1 on U-M's own 34 late in the second quarter. The Wolverines were already up 17-0; but the short field quickly cost them the shutout. Harbaugh later said the team went for it because of its faith in its defense.

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The Wolverines converted seven of 14 third downs, had seven players with multiple receptions and committed just one penalty — a frankly egregious holding call on Blake Corum after a defender tried to hurdle him then landed on top of him. U-M went 6-for-6 on red-zone trips (four TDs, two FGs) while the offensive line allowed just one sack on nearly 40 passing plays (though McCarthy was brought down two times for sacks on runs). Michigan also limited Purdue to one third-down conversion on 14 attempts, just 10 first downs and continued its nine-game streak of no plays run inside its own 8-yard line.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: U-M football grades vs. Purdue: Defense dominates, run game grounded