The team the team the team. I'm not going to start off talking about He Who Shall Not Be Named in the First Paragraph because I want to take a more holistic look at Michigan's 2025 team. But this looks like a complete team. I don't think it's a championship team, but it's a complete team in that there are no glaring weaknesses or players who are obviously overmatched. Now some might say "Meh, it's New Mexico and they were 5-7 last year and lost their coach and brought in a bunch of new players," but it's a team that had a mindset of running the ball last year (#2 in the country in 2024) and it's one that seems to have taken on the attitude of its coach. I heard good things about Jason Eck a few years ago on the coaching clinic circuit, and the team played with some swagger, which you have to do coming into Michigan Stadium as a giant underdog. Michigan looks like a pro team in the sense that there are no easy days against pro teams. If you have an injury on your 53-man roster in the NFL, you bring in another guy who looks like a pro, because he's been a backup or he's a veteran who played for ten years but maybe didn't have the right contract situation. I mentioned before that this is the deepest Michigan team I've seen (perhaps not the best, but the deepest), and I think that showed on Saturday night.
Name: Jyaire Hill Height: 6’2″ Weight: 190 lbs. High school: Kankakee (IL) Kankakee Position: Cornerback Class: Redshirt sophomore Jersey number: #20 Last year: I ranked Hill #20 and said he would be a starting cornerback with 25 tackles and 2 interceptions (LINK). He started nine games and made 35 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, and 9 pass breakups. TTB Rating: 88
Hill had an odd season in 2024. It was both a breakout season and an odd season. He became a starter for the first time, making nine starts in a defensive backfield that had Will Johnson, Zeke Berry, and Aamir Hall. The season included his first career interception, a very nice play against Minnesota.
And then against Northwestern, he didn't start, played only seven snaps, and wore #35 in what appeared to be a disciplinary move. It's not often that a player changes numbers for a single game, but the whispers behind the scenes for the past couple years have been that Hill is extremely talented but still has some work to do with the choices he makes.
Can Hill take that next step in 2025? He should be a starter at cornerback, and he reportedly took steps forward last year with his preparation. With a good season this fall, he could potentially jump to the NFL. But if those questions persist and NFL general managers are concerned, he might have to spend another year in college in 2026. So this could be a giant swing year for Hill, and if he can lock down opposing receivers, he could be a hugely valuable asset for the Wolverines.
New Mexico is coached by Jason Eck, who comes to UNM from FCS Idaho. Eck is a former Wisconsin offensive lineman under Barry Alvarez. Eck went 23-16 in three seasons at Idaho and replaces former BYU and Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall, who took the head coaching job at Utah State.
RUSH OFFENSE vs. NEW MEXICO RUSH DEFENSE Last year's rushing offense wasn't great. But it's also not back. Kalel Mullings (948 yards, 12 TD) and Donovan Edwards (589 yards, 4 TD) are gone, and so are four offensive linemen who started games: Myles Hinton, Josh Priebe, Dominic Giudice, and Andrew Gentry. (Gentry will start at right tackle for BYU, former backup Jeff Persi will start at left tackle for Pitt, and Giudice will start at left guard for Missouri.) Meanwhile, 23 of Jordan Marshall's 31 carries came in the ReliaQuest Bowl, and Alabama transfer Justice Haynes ran for 448 total yards in 2024. Michigan's offensive line will be redshirt sophomore Evan Link, fifth year senior Giovanni El-Hadi, fifth year senior Greg Crippen, redshirt sophomore Brady Norton, and redshirt freshman Andrew Sprague from left to right. New Mexico has a new head coach in former Idaho head man Jason Eck, but the New Mexicans finished #126 in rushing yards allowed per game last year (212.9) and #129 in yards allowed per carry (5.42). Things got better down the stretch, but they let four teams average more than 6.7 yards per carry, including FCS Montana State in the 2024 season opener, who ran for 362 yards on 7.7 yards per attempt. They have 53 new players on the roster, including 16 new names in the defensive two-deep, so this is a new team. But still. They have 245 lb. defensive ends, a 265 lb. defensive tackle, and then a nose tackle who's 6'3", 325 lbs. but played for Texas Southern last year. The top returning tackler is weakside linebacker Randolph Kpai (6'3", 221), a fifth year senior. Fifth year senior edge Gabriel Lopez (6'3", 246) finished fourth on the team with 5 tackles for loss. Even with Michigan's revamped offense, this should be a major advantage for the Wolverines. Advantage: Michigan
