Best and worst from Michigan football's 2022 spring game
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football held its Maize vs. Blue spring game Saturday at The Big House. The Blue squad took home the victory, defeating their counterparts by a final score of 20-12.
Here are the best and worst from Saturday afternoon at The Big House (there wasn’t much bad).
RELATED
• Michigan spring game: Observations on the running backs, linebackers, secondary
• Michigan Blue 20, Michigan Maize 12: Notes, quotes & observations
Best Meal
Congrats to the Blue team for winning a Saturday night steak dinner. That squad was confident coming in, and co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore drafted well. The losers get hot dogs, just like the good ole’ days, though it’s not that bad a consolation prize in our book.
Top Quarterback
Before Michigan’s 2021 season even ended last New Year’s Eve, Wolverines fans were talking about how competitive the quarterback battle would be for 2022. Who will win out between redshirt sophomore Cade McNamara and sophomore J.J. McCarthy?
Neither were the best quarterback on this day, with McNamara playing just four drives and going 1-of-3 passing for nine yards, and McCarthy not being able to play due to shoulder soreness (he did snap on kicks). This was redshirt freshman Davis Warren‘s day, and it was an awesome coming-out party for the leukemia survivor who hasn’t played in a game since his sophomore year of high school.
Right from the jump, it was apparent Warren could play and the hype wasn’t just talk. None of the players we spoke to postgame were surprised by his 175-yard passing day that included 12 completions on 23 passes. He didn’t find the end zone — redshirt junior Alan Bowman did for the Michigan Maize team twice — but was really good in leading his team on drives.
Warren looks like he could be on scholarship somewhere, a hidden gem for now.
Biggest Surprise
There were plenty of Michigan players who impressed in this game — a great sign — but nobody surprised us more than redshirt sophomore safety Quinten Johnson. He looked the part on the back end, and roamed the field at a high level. He made seven tackles, six solo, to lead the Maize team, and played great coverage all afternoon. He could factor into Michigan’s safety rotation this fall.
Best Freshman
The Wolverines have a highly-touted freshman class, roughly half of which is already on campus as early enrollees. But wide receiver Darrius Clemons stood out the most.
In warm-ups, we said, ‘He passes the look test.’ Third-year sophomore running back Blake Corum said he had a similar reaction the first time he saw him.
“My first impressions when he early enrolled, I was like, ‘That’s what a receiver should look like.’ He’s big, tall, muscled up,” Corum said.
And then he saw him ball out. We had the same progression Saturday, when Clemons was targeted 10 times. Not every throw was great — to say the least — but he came down with three grabs for a game-high 52 yards and one touchdown. Bowman hit him on a 35-yard deep ball that served as the play of the game. Clemons even completed a 21-yard pass to redshirt freshman tight end Max Bredeson on a reverse. He can do it all.
Best Clip
That led us to the best clip of the game, with redshirt junior wide receiver Ronnie Bell — who didn’t play as he still recovers from his ACL injury — being interviewed by the Big Ten Network crew. Bell was mid-sentence when Clemons made his touchdown grab, and Bell had to take off to celebrate with the youngster.
Top Two-Way Player
There are two candidates for this category — third-year sophomore linebacker/running back Kalel Mullings and fourth-year junior wideout/nickelback Mike Sainristil. Both did some really nice things, with Mullings showing he can run the ball with power and even some speed, notching four carries for 46 yards.
But while it may not be popular, we’ll give the nod to Sainristil here. He had an incredible pass breakup on a well-thrown ball by McNamara intended for sophomore wide receiver Andrel Anthony down the sideline, and was great in coverage all afternoon from the nickel spot. It’s hard to envision a guy you’ve watched on one side of the ball play the other way, but Sainristil — who played defensive back in high school — looked like a natural. He’s still got work to do, but he’s really changed the perception of what this Michigan secondary can do.
Best Trickery
Clemons’ throw was nice, but Michigan junior tight end Erick All takes the cake when it comes to best trick play. He threw a 31-yard dime to freshman early enrollee Colston Loveland on a double-pass, which set up a score just over a minute later.
McNamara said All, his roommate, completes just one out of 10 of those in practice, but he made the play when it (sort of) counted Saturday.
Worst Blown Coverage
Michigan freshman early enrollee wideout Amorion Walker was wide open with no defender near him down the right sideline, and Warren found him for a 39-yard gain in the third quarter. There were plenty of mistakes in this game, but that blown coverage was the only real big gaffe, other than a missed extra point. It allowed Walker to make a nice play in his first time in front of fans at The Big House.
Biggest Football Guy
Harbaugh was the ‘commissioner’ for this game, and he kept himself busy by standing behind each play and listening in on the offensive huddles. When he got bored, perhaps, he decided to call some penalties himself, and the whole stadium chuckled when the official announced in the fourth quarter that, “per Coach Harbaugh’s request,” penalties, including holding calls, could be reviewed going forward.
Harbaugh has been quoted as saying he “takes a vitamin every day — it’s called a steak,” but he actually may go with the hot dogs tonight.
Strongest Arm
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was Michigan’s honorary captain and held a throwing exhibition at halftime of the spring game. While there were no defenders and he did miss on a few passes, those in attendance were impressed by the 34-year-old’s arm strength. He threw some bullets.
Michigan freshman quarterback Alex Orji was throwing absolute darts (he went 1-for-7, also often missing his targets), though, and it was in game action. While he’ll have to get much better mechanically, Orji is a supreme athlete. He could well end up on the defensive side of the ball, but if he figures out his accuracy, he could a bright future behind center.
Biggest Leg
Redshirt freshman Tommy Doman and redshirt junior Rhett Anderson deserve shout outs. The two handled all of the kicking and punting duties, and expended a lot of energy.
A former ‘six-star’ recruit, Doman was impressive, punting seven times for an average of 44.6 yards per boot with a 54-yard long. He pinned the opponent inside its own 20-yard line three times, as did Anderson, who punted on six occasions for an average of 42.2 yards.
They both kicked off for their teams, and Anderson made four field goals, checking in as the game’s highest scorer.
Best Quote
“It’s a work in progress. But it felt good to be back. I feel like this team is picking up right where we left off. We put in the work this offseason, this whole spring camp. We’ve been putting in work, stacking those bricks. We’re in a strong spot, but we have some work to do. We have one more practice, then we get into workouts and stuff like that. These next couple months are going to be huge, but I believe at the end of the day we’re going to have a great product to show everyone.”
Blake Corum on Michigan football
