Michigan fans had a good day yesterday, because their team did.

There wasn’t much drama.

But there was a lot of scoring by the Michigan offense, and a dominating showing by their defense.

With that in mind, here are the game balls.

Offense- RB Karan Higdon

Even Shea Patterson would agree with giving it to Higdon. Patterson credited Higdon with creating success in the passing game, as the safeties played up in the box to stop the running back (not having any success doing so).

It was Higdon’s birthday, and he made it a special one for himself, rushing for 156 yards on just 13 carries. Higdon displayed good vision and great open field cuts en route to some big gainers, including a 67 yard touchdown run.

Have yourself a game ball, Karan.

Defense- Safety Josh Metellus

A week removed from being ejected for targeting against Notre Dame, Metellus played like he had something to prove.

Metellus held his own in coverage, even being asked to cover a receiver one on one more than once. He also found his way into the opponents backfield, recording 1.5 tackles for loss.

In all, Metellus notched 7 total tackles, leading the Michigan team. Western Michigan did try throwing deep quite a bit in this game, but Metellus’ was having none of it and helped his corners out when they needed it.

Honorable mention- Rashan Gary: Disrupted the quarterback all day, Gary continuously shed his blocks when he wasn’t being triple teamed.

Special Teams- Punter Will Hart

Punting was an issue in 2017, this year it appears to be a big strength for Michigan two games into the season.

Yes, you don’t want to see your punter on the field too often, but field position is always important.

Will Hart did an excellent job of pinning Western Michigan back deep. One of his punts wet over 60 yards, all three of them went over 50, his average was 56.7.

It appears Hart has a strong leg. We didn’t give one game ball to a punter last season, but Hart was the standout on special teams versus WMU.