Michigan Football Position Levels: Michigan State

The Michigan Wolverines may have been on the rocks the last three weeks, but they came to the game Saturday night and showed the world who owns the in-state rivalry.

Michigan defeated the Michigan State Spartans 24-17 in a back-and-forth game that could have seen either team win. There were mistakes, tricks and big defensive stops. Ultimately, the Wolverines made just enough plays to beat “little brother.”

Let's get to the position grades.

Quarterbacks: B+

Head coach Sherrone Moore made it around the quarterback carousel and found his way back to Davis Warren. In his first start since Week 3, he threw for 123 yards, one touchdown and had a quarterback rating of 140.2. He missed a few shots, but didn't turn the ball over and made some hard throws.

Alex Orji also deserves great praise. He hadn't seen the field since being substituted for Jack Tuttle against Washington. He made a big impact Saturday night, leading the team with 64 yards on six carries and sealing the game with multiple first-down runs on the final drive.

Running Backs: C+

The Spartans committed to stopping the Wolverines' running game and it worked. It was a tough stat day for both of Michigan's star running backs, as Kalel Mullings finished the game with 18 yards on 13 carries and Donovan Edwards had 24 yards on nine carries.

Still, the defenders contributed greatly in other ways. Edwards made a great 15-yard catch at the end of the first half to set up a field goal while also throwing a 23-yard touchdown for Loveland. Mullings racked up some really solid blocks to help Orji fight for extra yards.

Wide receivers: C+

It wasn't a huge increase, but the wide receivers saw a little more action with Warren as QB1 compared to Tuttle and Orji. Warren hit Semaj Morgan three times, Tyler Morris scored on a big 23-yard gain early in the second half, Peyton O'Leary hauled in a 15-yard grab and Kendrick Bell had a 12-yard reception. It wasn't exactly spectacular, but the receivers made some tough catches to move the sticks.

Tight Ends: A

Simply put, Loveland is a superstar. He once again led the team in receiving with 67 yards on six catches. He also caught two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. He and Marlin Klein were instrumental in blocking Orji on his long 29-yard run and setting up Loveland's touchdown catch by Edwards.

Offensive line: C

The offensive line has been plagued by injuries all season, and that continued Saturday. Left tackle Myles Hinton was back in the starting lineup, but right tackle Andrew Gentry left the game with an injury, bringing back former starter Evan Link.

There was some good and some bad about the line. The Wolverines couldn't run the ball, but Warren had a relatively clean pocket to throw the ball and wasn't sacked once. Overall, we expect more from this unit, but it was a nice bounce-back performance after last week's debacle against Illinois.

Defensive line: B

At some points in the game, the Michigan front appeared to be playing at an A+ level. Josaiah Stewart had a strip sack on Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles, Cameron Brandt picked up the first sack of his career, Kenneth Grant recovered the Chiles' fumble and also made a great play by sacking Nate Carter on third-and-1 attacked and forced MSU to kick a field goal.

The flip side of that, however, was that the Spartans ran for 189 yards, an average of 4.8 yards per carry. Carter had 118 of those yards and a touchdown. Carter kept MSU in the game and the run defense needs to be sorted.

Linebacker: B

Similar to the defensive line, the lack of big runs on third and long falls on the first two levels of the defense. Nonetheless, the secondary played well and once again led the team in tackles – Ernest Hausmann finished with 11 and Jaishawn Barham with nine. In addition, they managed to keep the Spartans' running backs and tight ends in check well in the passing game. There were positives and negatives, but the linebackers came out big in the win.

Defensive Backs: B-

Star cornerback Will Johnson was sidelined before the game, so it would be another big task for Michigan's secondary to make up for his absence. Because of this, the defensive backs played well against Chiles, completing 17 of 23 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. However, they made some crucial defensive stops on third and fourth downs, including a game-winning pass breakup in the end zone by Quinten Johnson with less than two minutes left.

Jyaire Hill had four tackles and a pass breakup, and Aamir Hall had eight tackles. However, it should be noted that Makari Paige missed six tackles and had the lowest grade on the team at 40.6, according to Pro Football Focus.

Special Teams: C+

What's up with the poking and kicking? Tommy Doman was again mediocre, averaging just 36.6 yards per punt and a long of 49. Kicker Dominic Zvada made his only field goal attempt, but Doman botched the snap on the team's first extra point attempt, and Michigan had to convert a two-pointer. To compensate for this, you need to convert points later in the game. We know what the unit is capable of, but they need to be more consistent in the future.