Michigan football spring game takeaways: Get ready to see Benjamin Hall star at RB

There was a little bit of everything in Michigan football's spring game, but that's probably to be expected in a scrimmage to open April.

It's likely not wise to draw too many sweeping conclusions from the event — last year, Darius Clemons stole the show; he's not done, but he didn't have a fall impact — but there were moments and players who stood out at the Maize and Blue scrimmage.

The Mike Hart-coached Maize team beat the Jay Harbaugh-coached Blue team, 22-21, after Leon Franklin scored a touchdown and tight end Payton O'Leary caught the game-winning two-point conversion from quarterback Davis Warren with 1:44 to play.

THE PLAN: How Michigan football plans to fix a big flaw TCU exposed in its defense

The Maize team's reward: A steak dinner, while the Blue team gets hot dogs.

INCOMING: Michigan lands Jadyn Davis, five-star QB for class of 2024

The good: McCarthy and transfers

Although there was one throw quarterback J.J. McCarthy will want back, the junior (who wore a white "no contact" jersey) once again showed the tantalizing talent from last fall, particularly on his final drive, which wrapped up the first half.

It started when he found O'Leary up the left sideline for a gain of 24.

On the next play, McCarthy threw an NFL-caliber pass from the left hash to the right sideline, just above the underneath defender yet below the defensive back crashing down on the play, for another first down.

Later on the drive on third-and-goal, from the 5, McCarthy rolled left against his body and threw a strike to Jake Thaw to tie the game at 7-all. McCarthy looked as expected despite throwing to non-standard targets such as Franklin, O'Leary and Matthew Hibner.

As for the newcomers, many popped, including Josaiah Stewart. The edge rusher transfer from Coastal Carolina had five tackles including two for a loss and one sack, in which he beat Tristan Bounds from McCarthy's blind side.

"It felt great, just having fun out there with the guys in a new environment," Stewart said on his first experience at The Big House. "I can just imagine when the stands are filed up and we're playing Ohio State; I can't wait.

Ernest Hausmann was another transfer who made his name known early and often. The soon-to-be sophomore from Nebraska led all players with eight tackles, then made a game-changing play in the third quarter when he stripped Tuttle to set up the Blue team on Maize's side of the field.

And then there was running back Benjamin Hall.

U-M's top three running backs — Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards and CJ Stokes all sat out (as did incoming freshman Cole Cabana) — and Hall took advantage of the opportunity, running 13 times for 96 yards.

The freshman had one truly eye-popping run on the final play of the third quarter: The 5-foot-10, 225-pounder got the handoff and waited patiently behind his line, then bounced right, juked back left, accelerated and outran the defense to the 1 for a 31-yard gain.

He reached the end zone two plays later to put Blue up, 14-7. Earlier in the drive, he had a 10-yard run in which he planted his right foot hard then cut upfield. He enters the season deep on the depth chart, but expect the Wolverines to get him on the field when they can.

"I told him he should've had two touchdowns, but he fell once and stepped out of bounds on the other one," said Hart, joking about his postgame message for Hall. "He's just getting better and better every day. ... Excited about his future here."

READ MORE: J.J. McCarthy learned plenty from TCU, ready for another chance at history

The bad: Turnovers

It's spring, so sloppiness is to be expected — but five turnovers was excessive.

On the bright side, at least the "Turnover Buffs," Michigan's sunglasses reward for taking the ball away (introduced by Will Johnson last season), got a workout.

The first miscue came on a McCarthy interception on the game's opening drive; he had Marlin Klein wide open on on a post route but overthrew him, and Quentin Johnson came away with the pick. The next was a Franklin fumble, recovered by Amorion Walker, on Blue's next possession.

Indiana transfer quarterback Jack Tuttle, who led Maize to the first score of the game with his legs, committed the next two. The first came late in the second quarter, when he avoided the initial rush but instead of throwing the ball away tried to heave a pass downfield; it floated long enough for Zeke Berry to pick it off.

Tuttle then fumbled in the third quarter when he was stripped by Hausmann — but Warren gave the ball back on the next play when Micah Pollard ran under a deep ball for an interception.

The noteworthy: Hill-Green returns, multiple projected starters sit out

A number of notable players on offense and defense sat this one out: Cabana, Corum, Edwards, Johnson, Stokes, AJ Henning, Junior Colson, Myles Hinton and Drake Nugent.

Nikhai Hill-Green was back on the field, however.

The linebacker was expected to compete for a starting spot a season ago before he suffered a soft-tissue injury last summer that sidelined him for the entire season. His return to the field is inherently positive, though his actual day was up-and-down.

He was beat in man coverage in the third quarter by Maize's Hibner on a crossing route; Hibner took the pass 52 yards for the longest play of the day. But Hill-Green made up for it four plays later, when he sacked Warren on fourth-and-goal from the 3 as he finished with four tackles on the day.

"It felt good, but I think I gave up the play before that," Hill-Green said. "I just knew they weren't getting in the end zone whether I made the play or someone else made the play."

Colson, however, was seen before the game on a scooter with a cast on his left leg. The injury is recent, because he was heathy when he spoke to media last month.

Other notable plays included a sequence early in the second half, when Maize's Jaden McBurrows read a screen pass from Alex Orji to Hall and blew up the play for a loss of 5 yards. On the next snap, Derrick Moore blew through the line and slammed Hall for another loss on a draw play. He finished with seven tackles, two for loss.

Rayshaun Benny also had a nice afternoon, recording six tackles, including two for a loss and one sack.

Stats leaders

Passing: McCarthy: 7-for-10 for 84 yards, one touchdown and one interception; Warren: 8-for-13 for 163 yards and one interception; Tuttle: 4-for-6 for 47 yards and one interception; Orji: 4-for-6 for 47 yards and one touchdown.

Rushing: Hall: 13 rushes for 96 yards and one score; Mullings: Nine rushes for 35 yards and one score, Franklin, 12 rushes for 30 yards and two scores

Receiving: O'Leary: Six catches for 126 yards; Hibner: Two catches for 62 yards; Fredrick Moore, four catches for 62 yards and A.J. Barner, three catches for 30 yards.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football spring game takeaways: Benjamin Hall an eye-opener