Report card: Michigan defense earns poor marks in loss to Ohio State

QUARTERBACKS

Full disclosure before we get going here, I did not think the Michigan offense was bad. There are areas to critique (and we will), but the Wolverines still scored 39 points, totaled 401 yards of offense and moved the football. And that started with Shea Patterson, who was 20 of 34 for 187 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. I wrote going in that Patterson needed to have an efficient, turnover-free game, and he sort-of accomplished the first part. But his third-quarter interception played into OSU’s 17-point quarter, when the turnover resulted in a Buckeyes TD two plays later. Not a bad game from Patterson, but he did not make enough big plays and committed a costly turnover in a game he needed to be perfect in. Brandon Peters and Joe Milton both saw time briefly, late in the game, and combined to go 3 for 4 for 53 yards and an interception. But by the time Milton threw his pick, the game had already been lost. Grade: C-

RUNNING BACKS

Again, not an awful day running the back for Michigan — 161 yards on 40 carries for an average of 4 yards. Karan Higdon led the way with 15 carries for 72 yards, while Chris Evans had 8 for 33, but there were just not enough big runs to equal what Ohio State was doing on offense. Michigan had just one run of 20 yards or more all game. Making matters worse, Shea Patterson was limited in what he could do on the ground, too. Add in 7 carries for 32 yards from Tru Wilson and three carries for 7 yards from fullback Ben Mason and it was Michigan’s second-fewest rushing yards on the season, but it was not far off its weekly 200-yard goal. Grade: C-

RECEIVERS

Three drops from Zach Gentry proved crucial for Michigan on Saturday, and really brought the overall grade of this unit down. Jim Harbaugh and spoke all season about the few number of drops from receivers — then the tight end drops two in the end zone and a third over the middle of the field in the second half before taking a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked him out of the game with a concussion. Gentry aside, Donovan Peoples-Jones caught seven passes for 64 yards and Nico Collins caught 4 for 91 and 2 TDs (including a beautiful 24-yard TD catch late in the second quarter). Both made huge, under-the-radar strides this season and should be praised for that. But in this game, those dropped passes by Gentry resulted in lost points. And that made a difference early. Grade: D+

OFFENSIVE LINE

A group we have dissected all season long came up with an underwhelming effort on Saturday. While the backs averaged 4 yards per carry, holes up front were few and far between. Shea Patterson didn’t have the time to throw like in previous games — he was sacked three times, while Ohio State totaled five tackles for loss. Andrew Stueber got the start at right tackle over Juwann Bushell-Beatty, so perhaps that played into it. But in the biggest game of the season Michigan needed the group to come through in the biggest way possible. They weren’t as bad as last year, but we have seen better outings from this group. Grade: D