Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia breaks down the winners and losers for Michigan football in the Wolverines' 30-10 win over Fresno State in Saturday night's season opener in Ann Arbor.

Three up

TE Colston Loveland

U-M returned just a single starter on offense from last season, and he was the best player on the field much of the night. Loveland, the 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end who has drawn Travis Kelce comparisons from coaches in camp, led all pass catchers with eight receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown. Nearly half (41) of his yards came after the catch and if not for a third-down drop in the second half, he would've been nearly perfect. Loveland hauled in the first pass of the season, over the middle for 13 yards, then added receptions of 5, 12 and 10 yards before the break. After halftime, Loveland had three receptions for 28 yards on the opening drive of the third quarter, then capped his night with an 18-yard touchdown reception to give U-M a two-score lead with 5:34 to play. According to Pro Football Focus, Loveland (89.4) was the highest graded offensive player on U-M by a substantial margin.

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EDGE Josaiah Stewart

Stewart looked like Michigan's most effective defensive player in Week 1. The advanced numbers back up that belief, as Stewart led all U-M defenders with a 91.3 rating, per PFF, followed by two other defensive linemen in Derrick Moore (90.9) and Rayshaun Benny (80.8), as the entire unit had a tremendous day. However, their efforts were led by the former Coastal Carolina transfer who was credited with six stops as he finished the night with five tackles, three of which went for loss, including two sacks. “I feel more relaxed,” Stewart said earlier in the week. “Just coming in last year, learning the defense first, first year in the Big Ten, just kind of getting my feet wet. But now, I’m comfortable. I got this great group of guys around me. I’m excited to get out there.” He played 37 snaps.

RB Kalel Mullings

The third best player on offense for U-M according to PFF? Mullings, who started the game as the second RB off the bench but got into a rhythm as the game wore on. The senior back struggled in the early going to get anything consistent behind an offensive line missing its groove; by the half, he'd run nine times but gained more than 5 yards just once. That changed in the second half, as five of his six carries went for 6 yards or more, including back-breaking runs of 21 and 15 yards on U-M's seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth to get some breathing room. "Continuing to throw those gut punches,” Mullings said of what was going through his mind as the game wore on. “I used to play defense, so I know (how it feels to get worn down).” Mullings also added three kick returns for 74 yards, including one he took from more than halfway back in the end zone when he felt he could bring a "spark" to the team.

Three down

RB Donovan Edwards

It was a tough night for the man believed to be U-M's lead tailback entering the year, who was also one of the EA Sports "College Football 25" cover stars. The Michigan ball carrier moved into a full-time lead role for the first time but never got anything going as he finished with 11 rushes for 27 yards and two catches for no yards and a score. The touchdown came on a walk-in 3-yard reception after the defense set up the attack with a short field and should largely be credited to OC Kirk Campbell's play design. Outside of that, just about everything was tough for the West Bloomfield alumnus. Edwards' longest rush of the night was 7 yards, which came in the fourth quarter, while nine of his total 13 touches went for 3 yards or fewer (aka "inefficient" per U-M's categorization) and three went for either a loss or no gain. With 13 touches on 61 plays, U-M tried to get Edwards the ball on 21.3% of its snaps, yet he generated just 10% of the offensive production.

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RT Evan Link

This badge of non-honor could have gone to any offensive lineman not named Myles Hinton, but we'll single out Link, who played in his first collegiate game. It was a tall task for the 6-foot-6, 320-pound product from the Washington area; at times, the right tackle who beat out Andrew Gentry (and Jeff Persi) looked overmatched. Link (62 snaps) graded out the lowest of any U-M lineman to play at least 15 plays, per PFF, as he gave up three pressures — nobody else allowed more than one — and allowed quarterback Davis Warren to get hit twice on 28 total dropbacks. Consider this a mark against Grant Newsome's entire unit, which netted just 89 yards of offense in the first half and just 16 points not directly scored or set up by the defense.

Wide receivers

It was too tough to decide between Tyler Morris and Semaj Morgan, the wideouts Michigan is counting on most this season, so the demerit goes to the entire unit, which had one of its worst games. U-M wideouts combined to catch six passes for 34 yards, and nobody had more than 15 yards. Morris, the man considered the "alpha" in the room, had just one reception for more than 3 yards. Morgan began the night with a 9-yard end-around, but outside of that had just a pair of 4-yard catches on offense. The only other wideout to even catch a pass was Kendrick Bell, the younger brother of former leading wideout Ronnie Bell; Bell the Youner caught an 11-yard slant over the middle. Position coach Ron Bellamy rotated in Peyton O'Leary (26 snaps), C.J. Charleston (six snaps) and Fredrick Moore (three snaps) in the final wideout spot, but they combined for two targets and no grabs. The unit simply has to be more effective next week vs. No. 4 Texas.

More Game 1 reading

SHAWN WINDSOR: Hey Michigan football fans, give your team a break. A natty is nice, but this isn't 'Bama.

RAINER SABIN: Michigan football's offensive struggles leave little room to breathe in opener

THE BOOT: Dominic Zvada looks like the next big-legged, reliable kicker for Michigan football

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Winners, losers from Michigan football’s Week 1 game vs. Fresno State