Sherrone Moore: No apologies for Michigan passing game at MSU

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood had arguably the best game of his career in a win over Washington, completing 21 of 27 passes and having a few dropped. Against MSU, though, the Wolverines only threw twice in the second half, and the freshman completed only 8 of 17 passes overall for 86 yards. 

On the flip side, the running backs had a field day. The Wolverines ran for 276 yards and had several big runs in the second half. Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore made no apologies Monday for the lack of passing success.

“It’s two part,” he said. “There are some things in in protection and coverage that we just didn’t get synced right, but there were some passes in there that we were super successful on …  a couple to Andrew Marsh. Even on the scoring drive in the third quarter, we threw a deep corner route to him that was wide open, so it wasn’t necessarily all that.

“Also, the way the game was going became one of those games you get a complementary football game, the defense is playing well and stopping them, and you wanted to get some momentum. Especially in the third quarter when you hit a 20-yard run, then another 20-yard run, it’s like it’s hard to throw it there. So, at that point we did what we needed to do to win the game.”

Michigan offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey is the one calling the plays, he said when asked, though he added he had imput, noting, “I’m just there to help out with things I see.” Moore added that offensive line coach Grant Newsome “really stepped up this week in the game plan and put together some plays and things we executed a high level in the game,” as well. 

And while there were some protection issues, Underwood bailed from the pocket too early at times, too. 

“There’s a mix of both,” Moore said. “Everybody’s a culprit on some, whether it be route depth, spacing, alignment. There was an alignment one in the in the red zone. If he’s tighter line, he probably throws the ball in the flat for a touchdown, and we take the under if a guy goes underneath the linebacker. 

“So, there’s all those little things that continue to … that showed up. But there were a lot of positives too. The wheel route to Andrew Marsh on the naked, he chucks the one to [Donaven] McCulley. It’s pretty close, but I like that. I want him to take those shots. There are a lot of things to learn from, we’ll definitely get better.”

And 270 yards rushing is 270 yards rushing, he reiterated. 

While Underwood’s splits are much better at Michigan Stadium than on the road, Moore believes it will even out. 

“We got into the game and in the third quarter, we had an explosive run of 20 and an explosive run of 25, so that’s just going to happen sometimes,” he said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with Bryce’s ability or the receiver’s ability to trust them. I think they’re really good, and we will be complete … but we’re going to go try to win games [first].

“I think [the line] played at a high level and there’s plenty to fix, plenty to get right. But when you have that kind of ‘assert your dominance’ moment in a game, it’s great to see.”