Free Press sports writer Jared Ramsey breaks down the winners and losers for Michigan football on Saturday from the Wolverines‘ 31-12 loss to Texas at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
Three up
LG Josh Priebe
It wasn’t a great performance by the offensive line, but there were some positives. Michigan only ran for 80 yards on 23 tries, but kept quarterback Davis Warren upright by not allowing a sack, and gave up just three tackles for loss. Priebe grades out as Michigan’s best pass blocker, according to Pro Football Focus, with a grade of 89.6 (scale of 0 to 100).
Priebe, a Northwestern transfer, graded out behind left tackle Myles Hinton overall because of some struggles blocking the run, such as allowing a gap on backup quarterback Alex Orji’s first run of the game on a critical third down in the second quarter, but he held up as Michigan unsuccessfully tried to rally.
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S Makari Paige
Paige was the last line of defense against Texas and helped mitigate some damage. He led the team with six tackles, four solo, and had the secondary’s only pass deflection. Paige primarily lined up as a deep free safety, but also split time in the box with Quinten Johnson and covered the slot. He was targeted three times as the primary defender in coverage, giving up two catches for 33 yards.
Paige was the best player in the secondary of the players not named Will Johnson, who was only thrown at once as Texas funneled its passing game away from the Wolverines’ All-American corner.
K Dominic Zvada
Michigan’s dominance in placekicking has moved to the next generation. Zvada, an Arkansas State transfer, has been one of the team’s most consistent players through two weeks. He is 5-for-5 on field goals after making kicks of 37-yard and 52 yards against Texas. He put both down the middle and had more than enough distance on the 52-yarder, showcasing he could help Michigan score from further out this season. He was their only offensive output through the first 58 minutes of the game, before the offense tacked on a touchdown in garbage time.
Three down
CB Jyaire Hill
Hill had a tough game against Texas’ receivers. He frequently got picked on by quarterback Quinn Ewers and had a few missed tackles in space. According to PFF, Hill was the primary person in coverage for 10 Texas passes, which led to seven completions for 103 yards for an average of 10.3 yards allowed per attempt.
Texas broke things open on the first drive targeting Hill with a double-move on the outside, leading to a 33-yard completion to Isaiah Bond down the field. Hill was also in coverage for Texas’ first touchdown.
“Jyaire, they made some plays over their (on his side), but then he bounced back, especially in the second half,” Moore said. “Really proud of him and his effort. So, we just got to do a better job as a whole group.”
Linebackers
Michigan’s two starting middle linebackers, Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham, were the two lowest-graded performers on the defense, with PFF grades of 43.9 and 43.7, respectively. Texas took a page out of Michigan’s preferred playbook of winning at the line of scrimmage in the run game, then dissecting the defense with play-action passes and an effective third-down strategy. Hausmann and Barham were not effective in coming downhill and bringing down Texas’ running backs on first contact, and were susceptible to play-fakes.
Hausmann was given a 24 in PFF’s tackling grade, the lowest mark for a Michigan starter in any aspect on either side of the ball, while Barham was dinged for coverage. Texas generated over 90% of its 143 rushing yards after contact and consistently reached the second and third level on runs, thanks to the push from the offensive line and the Wolverines’ tackling struggles.
“For us on defense, it’s tackling,” Moore said. “We got to make sure we wrap up because they had 135 yards after contact.”
The running opened up Texas’ play-action passing game which gave the spine of the defense issues all game. Texas tight end Gunnar Helm was the game’s leading receiver with seven catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. He constantly found pockets of space on crossing routes or late outbreaking routes on play fakes, as the linebackers crashed toward the line of scrimmage.
Michigan also had some issues picking up running backs in the passing game, with Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner combining for eight catches, 56 yards and a touchdown.
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Wide receivers
Michigan’s receivers struggled again in an all-around disappointing day for the offense. The majority of the Wolverines’ pass game again went through tight end Colston Loveland, who had eight catches for 70 yards; the receiving corps combined for 10 catches for 113 yards and one touchdown. Semaj Morgan led the team with 45 yards on five receptions, with most coming on the final drive with the game far out of reach. Morgan, Tyler Morris, Payton O’Leary and C.J. Charleston did not create separation on the outside, and Michigan didn’t venture much with passes over the middle outside of targeting Loveland, who lost a fumble.
“We got to make plays,” Moore said when talking about the offense’s third-down struggles. “Pass catchers got to make plays. You have some third downs and you drop one, you mis-run the route. I can remember specifically off my head, there’s two of them that we just dropped so that touched the percentage as well. So, we got to make plays for the quarterback as well.”
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city’s professional teams, the state’s two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football winners and losers from Texas drubbing in Week 2
