All hail Davis Warren! I'm not going to pretend that Davis Warren is on track to be J.J. McCarthy, but Warren played his best game of the year in going 13/19 for 123 yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions. He did not take any sacks and scrambled once for 7 yards. I mentioned on Twitter (before I knew Jack Tuttle would miss the game) that if I were Michigan's coaching staff, I would start Warren and mix in Alex Orji on every third series. Warren got a bad rap early in the year when he made mistakes while other people (Donovan Edwards, Evan Link, Colston Loveland, etc.) were screwing up; Warren took the blame for the team being bad. Now that the offensive line has improved some and other players have adjusted, Warren looks okay. He's not a world-beater, but the kid can play a little bit. I'm happy for him that he got a little bit of redemption. Nobody will ever be able to take away the fact that he quarterbacked Michigan to a rivalry victory over Michigan State.
Michigan State WR Nick Marsh (image via Yahoo! Sports)
RUSH OFFENSE vs. MSU RUSH DEFENSE Michigan is a disappointing 45th in rushing offense (180.3 yards/game) despite being unable to do the whole passing thing well. They average 4.76 yards/carry, which ties them for 54th nationally. Kalel Mullings (110 carries, 676 yards, 7 TD) is the leader in the backfield, while backup Donovan Edwards (80 carries, 391 yards, 3 TD) gave up his second fumble of the season last Saturday. It might be worth mentioning QB Alex Orji, too, who has not played for the majority of the past two games (he played three series against Washington) but who has 35 carries for 124 yards this year. With the turnovers given up by QB Jack Tuttle over the past couple weeks, the staff may work in Orji a little more. Michigan had three new starters on the offensive line last week with Jeff Persi at LT, Greg Crippen at C, and Andrew Gentry at RT, but starting LT Myles Hinton - Michigan's best lineman - may return on Saturday. Defensively, Michigan State is #53 in rushing defense (131.1 yards/game) and #46 in yards allowed per carry (3.78). The last three teams MSU has played have averaged over 5.2 yards/carry, but two of those are top-five teams in Ohio State and Oregon, and the third was Iowa, which has a pretty solid running back in Kaleb Johnson; Johnson had 14 carries for 98 yards and 1 score, but one of those carries was a 75-yard touchdown, so his other 13 attempts went for 23 yards. The leading tackler is senior Wisconsin transfer Jordan Turner, a Farmington High School product, who is a 6'1", 231 lb. middle linebacker with 43 stops. Next is fifth year senior LB Cal Haladay (6'1", 233) with 34 tackles and then junior UCF transfer strong safety Nikai Martinez (5'11", 191) with 31. Former Michigan DT commit Alex Van Sumeren (6'3", 300) and fifth year senior D'Quan Douse (6'2", 300) start at defensive tackle, but the Spartans rotate a lot of players in the front seven to keep them fresh. I do think Michigan can have success on the ground . . . if they use Kalel Mullings and Alex Orji appropriately, which is unfortunately a question mark. Advantage: Michigan
Monroe (NC) Monroe DB Jordan Young (image via 247 Sports)
TRANSFER PORTAL
Donaven McCulley - WR - Indiana: McCulley is a 6'5", 203 lb. former quarterback who transitioned to receiver at Indiana. He entered the transfer portal in the off-season and was courted by Michigan, but he was convinced to rejoin Indiana's squad. After not being a major factor early in the year (2 catches, 21 yards, 1 TD in the first five weeks), he decided to re-enter the transfer portal and is now considering Michigan again.
2025
Andrew Babalola - OT - Overland Park (KS) Blue Valley Northwest: Babalola (5-star, #2 OT, #11 overall) committed to Michigan.
Avery Gach - OT - Franklin (MI) Groves: Gach is committed to Michigan (LINK).
Quante Gillians - DE - Rochester (NY) Aquinas Institute: Gillians is a 6'3", 278 lb. prospect who has been committed to Syracuse since June 2024. Michigan offered him in the last month, and he also has offers from Boston College and Pitt, among others. He's a 3-star, the #101 defensive lineman, and #978 overall.
Bad game plans are the norm. After Saturday's 21-7 loss to Illinois, Sherrone Moore said he needs to re-evaluate himself as a head coach. I'm not ready to throw Moore out after half a season with no functional quarterback, but I am very disappointed in him and offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell. There are all kinds of glaring issues with this offense:
If ground-and-pound is your identity, stick with it. Michigan needs to be a run-first team. That's the only way they're going to win. Everybody has known that the entire off-season, even when we had higher hopes for Alex Orji or Jack Tuttle or Davis Warren or whoever. Early in the game, Michigan was using the passing game and Donovan Edwards. How are you going to wear down a team down the stretch by throwing the ball with a weak passing game and running Donovan Edwards? The bulls in the backfield are Kalel Mullings, Benjamin Hall, and Alex Orji. Pound the ball!
Speaking of Alex Orji, he should be on the field. Probably the most frustrating thing about Michigan's offensive personnel decisions is that Alex Orji - who played last year while J.J. McCarthy was here and who was deemed "one of the best 11" by Campbell in the off-season - has disappeared from the offense for the past two games. How do you go from one of the best 11 to a guy who doesn't see the field at all? I was not a fan of Orji as a starting quarterback who played the entire game, but he can be used as a mooseback runner. Hell, Michigan used Hassan Haskins in a wildcat role. You can put a 6'3", 235 lb. guy back there with Mullings and/or Hall and/or Edwards and still do some things. Orji just can't be playing an entire game as the only option.
Donovan Edwards is both underused and frustrating. How did Michigan take one of the better receiving backs in the country and turn him into a guy who has 9 catches for 46 yards through seven games? He also had zero receptions in this game. Michigan needs to figure out ways to get him the ball. And then, of course, he had a very frustrating fumble on Michigan's longest run of the day, a 19-yarder where the ball was punched out. He had 7 carries for 38 yards, but with the 19-yarder ending in a fumble, that's basically 6 carries for 19 yards . . . which is nothing special.
Plan for Jack Tuttle. Tuttle isn't a guy who can do straight dropback stuff to win the game. He's a game manager type who needs to be a complement to the run game. The offensive line can't pass block - although I feel like they did slightly better in this game - and the receivers can't get open with regularity. Michigan's coaching staff should be using for Tuttle the game plan they used with Alex Orji, while occasionally mixing in a downfield/intermediate shot, maybe once a quarter.
RUSH OFFENSE vs. ILLINOIS RUSH DEFENSE Michigan is #39 in rushing offense (191.3 yards/game) and #44 in yards per carry (5.06). Kalel Mullings has emerged as the #1 back for the offense (589 yards, 6.5 yards/carry, 6 TD) because of his ability to break tackles and move the chains, but he and Donovan Edwards (353 yards, 4.8 yards/carry, 3 TD) split carries in the last game with 14 each. There may be a shakeup on the offensive line: injured LT Myles Hinton is expected to return, which could allow fill-in tackle Jeff Persi to get a shot at right tackle; and it sounds like Greg Crippen will get a start at center over Dominick Giudice. Defensively, Illinois is #77 against the run (149.2 yards allowed/game) and #96 in yards allowed per carry (4.54). The last two opponents, Penn State and Purdue, have both run for 239 yards. The leading tackler is redshirt sophomore safety Matthew Bailey (6'2", 215) with 38 stops; following him are redshirt junior MLB Dylan Rosiek (6'1", 235) with 35 and redshirt junior free safety Miles Scott (5'11", 210) with 33. The Illini don't have a ton of size up front - their biggest regulars are two 305 pound nose tackles - but they do have a 6'3", 275-pounder at OLB in Gabe Jacas who leads the team with 5 tackles for loss. Michigan should have an advantage when running the ball, especially if Crippen and/or Persi can be improvements over Giudice and redshirt freshman RT Evan Link. Advantage: Michigan
Saint Louis (MO) Christian Brothers defensive end Triston Abram, an Indiana commit, was offered by Michigan. He's a 6'4", 225-pounder who also has offers from Boston College, Kansas State, and Memphis, among others. He's a 3-star, the #58 edge, and #782 overall.
Lake Worth (FL) Santaluces wide receiver Jamar Browder, a North Carolina State commit, was offered by Michigan. Browder is a 3-star, the #119 wide receiver, and #782 overall. He committed to NCSU back in June. The Wolfpack are having a rough season, and Browder recently visited Michigan's campus for an unofficial visit. He's planning to return in early November for an official.
Massillon (OH) Washington offensive tackle Nolan Davenport, a Wisconsin commit, was offered by Michigan. Davenport is a 6'6", 260-pounder with offers from Missouri and Penn State, along with the Badgers. He's a 3-star, the #54 offensive tackle, and #716 overall in the 247 Composite. He has been committed to Wisconsin since June 2024.
