Fantastic, Functional, Forgettable: MSU offense struggles, UM drops not fatal, defense shines for trio of teams

Fantastic, Functional, Forgettable is back for another week, with a full weekend of results to run through and plenty of intriguing results.

To recap, Michigan beat Wisconsin, 24-10, at home and the rest of the teams were on the road: Western Michigan beat UMass, 21-3; Central Michigan lost to Akron, 28-22; Eastern Michigan lost to Buffalo in OT, 31-30; and Michigan State lost to Nebraska, 38-27.

Let's dig in.

Fantastic

Rod Moore and Michigan’s defense: Saturday marked a triumphant return to the Big House for Moore, who capped a strong performance with a third quarter interception, the lone turnover in Michigan’s 24-10 win over Wisconsin. And Moore’s outing coincided with a generally dominant day for the Wolverines on defense, save for getting marched down the field on the first drive. The issue early was bad tackling, Sherrone Moore said postgame, and whatever adjustments Michigan made, they worked. 

The Wolverines forced punts on eight of the next nine Badger drives, and Moore nabbed his interception to end another. Wisconsin went 4-of-14 on third downs and rushed for less than 100 yards as Michigan ended the day with three TFLs and one sack. The overall stats aren’t eye popping, but pretty much everybody on the Michigan defense came up to make a play in a comprehensive performance. 

Western Michigan’s defense: Over the last three games, two in conference and one against FCS Rhode Island, Western Michigan’s defense has allowed 10 points per game. And the defense, coached by new coordinator Chris O’Leary, can affect the game from all three levels of the field, led by a front that currently leads the nation with 23 sacks. 

Nadame Tucker is eighth nationally with five sacks, leading the way for that front. The Broncos also have five interceptions as a mix of youth and transfers have begun to coalesce. On Saturday, it manifested in a near-shutout, as the Broncos went to UMass and held the Minutemen to three points in a 21-3 victory. This defence is a major reason the Broncos are 2-0 in conference play. 

Michigan State’s pass rush: It had been a point of emphasis through camp that Michigan State wanted to get after the passer better, and through four games the results weren’t up to snuff. Saturday’s performance in Lincoln marks a big leap, as the Spartan front harassed Dylan Raiola consistently and sacked him five times. The Spartans had seven TFLs on the day. 

And with the pass rush humming, the Spartan defense put together a fairly solid outing, despite what the scoreboard might say. Nebraska finished with 261 total yards and only scored one offensive touchdown prior to the 1:11 mark in the third quarter. But dysfunction on offense and special teams cost the Spartans in a loss. 

Dontae McMillan: Eastern Michigan lost a heartbreaker in overtime, failing on a two-point conversion after giving up a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation (more on that later), but McMillan continued to be the engine driving the Eagles forward on offense. 

He took 20 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 46 yards and another touchdown. He leads the MAC with 533 yards rushing on the season and at a conference-best 6.5 yards per carry. McMillan has been consistent as they come, and a bright spot amidst the Eagles’ 1-5 start. 

Donaven McCulley and Andrew Marsh: This receiver duo did the bulk of the damage for Michigan in the passing game, combining for 10 catches and 192 yards. McCulley, along with making an acrobatic sideline catch over a defender (resulting in this great photo), caught his first touchdown as a Wolverine, shrugging off a trio of defenders before hustling into the end zone. He’ll keep the ball, and plans to give it to his parents, he said postgame. And it was easily his best day in maize and blue with six catches for 112 yards and the touchdown, pacing the Michigan passing game that produced 270 yards. 

Marsh got his first start, and the true freshman continued to show off a nice chemistry with fellow true freshman, quarterback Bryce Underwood. He hauled in a back shoulder throw on the sideline, rising through contact and controlling himself enough to come down inbound. He finished with four catches for 80 yards, and seems to keep ascending for the Wolverines. 

Functional

Michigan’s offense: The end results were fine, as Underwood threw for 270 and a touchdown and the running game again featured Justice Haynes going for more than 100 yards — 117 vs. the Badgers on Saturday, plus two touchdowns. Football is a results-based industry, and the offense found a groove in the second half and pulled away from Wisconsin to win, and that’s what mattered most. 

But the first was undeniably clunky, albeit against a good defense. The Badgers solid run defense plugged things up fairly well up front after Michigan’s early touchdown drive, and the Wolverine passing game didn’t deliver much. Things clicked along in the second half, and the score could’ve been a bit different if Dominic Zvada doesn’t miss a field goal and the offense doesn’t turn it over on downs inside the 20. The offense did enough and had its share of highlights, but it didn’t bulldoze the Badgers, either. 

Broc Lowry: Lowry continues to deliver what the Broncos need with his controlled, efficient play with his arm and legs in the backfield. He finished 18-of-25 for 163 yards and a touchdown through the air against UMass and added 92 yards on 15 carries plus another touchdown on the ground. And each week, the passing game appears to grow. 

But for whatever growth Lowry can make as a pure passer, he’s doing more than enough for the Broncos right now by being on time, on target and avoiding mistakes. And his upside and value as a rugged, dynamic runner is undeniable. He isn’t the flashiest, but he gets the job done consistently.

Noah Kim: Kim leads the MAC in completions, attempts and passing yards with 1338 on the season. The former Spartan and Chanticleer came to Ypsilanti ahead of this season and has won the starting job and produced. He’s got seven touchdown passes and three interceptions, and his coach will go to bat that one of those interceptions was the result of uncalled pass interference. 

Regardless, Kim went 19-of-31 for 168 yards and two touchdowns in Eastern Michigan’s overtime loss on Saturday, and added 30 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Kim has been effective operating and making hay in the Eastern Michigan offense, but hasn’t delivered the sort of hyper-productive outings that might be needed for EMU to win games this year. 

Central Michigan’s run game: Saturday turned into a disappointing 28-22 loss to Akron for the Chippewas, who got behind and couldn’t throw themselves back into the game. But the run game chugged along, producing 238 yards on 40 attempts and scoring both of Central Michigan’s touchdowns. 

Brock Townsend continues to excel, taking eight carries for a team-high 108 yards. Angel Flores churned out 95 yards on 16 carries and scored both touchdowns. And the run game was explosive, with carries of 46, 28, 23 and 17 yards on the day, among others. Central Michigan has proven it can get it going on the ground, but that didn’t matter down multiple scores late.

Forgettable

Michigan’s drops: Two drops by pass catchers for Michigan — one by Max Bredeson, another by Semaj Morgan — on third down brought into clear focus that the issue needs resolving. Morgan nearly had another later in the game, making a bobbling catch to move the chains before getting the ball punched out and falling on it for a recovery. 

It’s been different pass catchers at different times, and the coaching staff isn’t afraid of moving players who are catching the ball consistently into the lineup, as evidenced by Marsh getting a start. And it’s probably the case that Underwood could do his guys a few more favors by taking some zip off certain throws. 

Eastern Michigan’s defense on the final drive of regulation: Eastern Michigan led 24-21 and punted to Buffalo with :58 left. The Bulls had no timeouts and started from the nine. Buffalo drove to the Eastern Michigan 32 yard line, stopping the clock with :05 to play and bringing on Jack Howes for a 50-yard game-tying attempt that he made with time expiring.  

Gains of 27 and 16 yards kickstarted the game-tying drive for the Bulls, and the Eagles saw a late lead slip away. In overtime, Eastern Michigan scored a touchdown after Buffalo scored a touchdown with a PAT. Instead of kicking for the tie, head coach Chris Creighton kept the offense out to go for the win, and the shovel pass play fell incomplete as the Eagles lost a heartbreaker. 

Aidan Chiles, Michigan State’s offensive line: Michigan State gave up 12 tackles for loss, as the banged-up offensive line struggled to plug holes against Nebraska’s 3-3-5 defense. Chiles himself got sacked four times. And while the rushing game did score three touchdowns, the Spartans averaged 3.7 yards per carry, not including sacks.  

And Chiles struggled, with degrading health certainly playing a part of it. Backup Alessio Milivojevic entered the game briefly and threw a touchdown pass, and he played out the final few minutes of regulation after Chiles had taken even more of a beating. But Chiles finished 9-of-23 for 85 yards and two interceptions, while adding a pair of rushing touchdowns. On the whole, that just won’t get it done against Big Ten competition. 

Central Michigan’s defense: Head coach Matt Drinkall warned earlier in the week that the Zips were a bad matchup for his Chippewas. And he turned out to be right, as quarterback Ben Finley, running back Jordan Gant and wideout Kyan Mason torched the CMU defense. The Chippewas did come up with a takeaway via a Caleb Spann interception, but the defense didn’t have enough answers. 

Finley threw three touchdown passes (Akron QB Michael Johnson Jr. threw another), and Gant ran for 176 yards on 32 carries, and caught a touchdown among his three catches for 28 yards. Mason had five catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. Central Michigan’s defense held up for a while, but eventually Akron started to get ahead and it was too much to overcome. 

Central Michigan’s passing game: Playing from behind by multiple scores is not a good spot for the Chippewas, as Saturday showed. Quarterback Joe Labas finished 12-of-21 for 134 yards and Flores went 2-for-3 for two yards. The Chippewas couldn’t throw themselves back into the game, especially as the clock ticked down. 

And it was a big downturn for the Chippewas through the air after back-to-back weeks of efficient, explosive passing offense. The passing game goods are there, but it just might not be something that Central Michigan can easily tap into on a whim.