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    It wasn't pretty, but it worked against MSU
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    It wasn't pretty, but it worked against MSU

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    Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia assesses Michigan football's performance Saturday in its 24-17 victory over rival Michigan State football at Michigan Stadium.

    Attack: B-minus

    The offensive bar has been lowered as low as possible and showing pulse was a welcome development. It didn't start out that way, with three punts on three drives, but eventually quarterback Davis Warren was running the offense as well as any of the three signal callers. The running backs struggled, rushing for 42 yards on 21 carries, but Alex Orji saved the day with six runs for 64 yards, including two first downs in the final two minutes, to ice it.

    Donovan Edwards was pinned on the ground, but he made the play through the air, taking a throw from Warren and throwing the ball to a wide-open Colston Loveland for a touchdown, giving them a two-point lead. Loveland made the difference here: One of the best tight ends in America, he had perhaps the best game of his season, finishing the game with six catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns.

    UM managed just 265 yards of offense (nearly 100 less than MSU) and hit five punts. But halfway through the game, the team scored four goals in five drives, which was enough for the win.

    Defense: B-minus

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    The stats weren't as clean as Wink Martindale's unit would have liked, but holding Michigan State (which scored 32 against Iowa) to 17 points and just three scoring drives is a win.

    The Wolverines got stronger after allowing MSU to get into position for a 25-yard field goal attempt, which was missed. The Wolverines forced back-to-back punts and then, in the final 20 seconds, a strip sack from Josaiah Stewart to score a field goal and take the lead for good.

    Of course, not everything was great. The Wolverines allowed the Spartans to convert nine of 15 third downs, seven of them from 6 yards or more. But on fourth down on MSU's final offensive play, the pass rush came to nothing, forcing Aidan Chiles to get rid of the ball sooner than he would have liked.

    Special teams: C-plus

    From the accommodation it was an average day, but once again not everything was clean.

    Dominic Zvada made a 37-yard field goal, his two extra point attempts that he was actually able to attempt were good, and he didn't allow a return on a kickoff.

    Punter Tommy Doman held Michigan State within 20 yards, but only one traveled more than 45 yards; He also had a 24-yard strike late in the fourth quarter while acting as a holder and dropping the ball on UM's first extra point attempt.

    Tyler Morris and Semaj Morgan were each involved in the punt return game, returning two kicks for 14 and 8 yards, respectively.

    Coach: B

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    The two teams were relatively evenly matched and MSU came out and beat UM in the mouth. So it was impressive that the coaches got the team to respond quickly. It was also some of the better work Kirk Campbell has done. He combined the timing of Warren and Orji almost perfectly, with UM's change-of-pace QB making three rushes of more than 10 yards on three of the most critical plays. Campbell also used numerous tricks to strengthen the offense.

    The defense came up with timely stops, but Wink Martindale's order to inexplicably line up Mason Graham at the edge on a third-and-long pass resulted in MSU being able to tuck in a run up the middle, which potentially proved costly.

    On special teams, UM was also ready in the third quarter when Michigan State attempted an onside kick.

    UM deserves credit for going back to Warren when she could have tried anything else, but perhaps she should also be blamed for moving on from him in the first place.

    Still, Moore doesn't think so.

    “I’ll never look back and regret it,” Moore said. “We made the right decisions back then and we've come back to that decision now and feel really good about what he's done so far.”

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