Belleville (MI) Belleville QB Bryce Underwood (image via Yahoo!)
Belleville (MI) Belleville quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped from LSU to Michigan on Thursday night. He picked the Wolverines over . . . everyone.
Underwood is listed at 6'3" and 205 pounds. As a junior he completed 179/276 passes (64.8%) for 3,329 yards, 44 touchdowns, and just 3 interceptions. Altogether, he has been responsible for over 165 touchdowns as a four-year starter at quarterback for the Tigers.
RUSH OFFENSE vs. NORTHWESTERN RUSH DEFENSE Michigan ranks #73 nationally in rushing offense (155.5 yards/game) and #74 in yards per carry (4.34). Indiana largely shut down the rushing game two weeks ago in a disappointing effort from the offensive line. Kalel Mullings (141 carries, 740 yards, 8 TD) still leads the team in rushing, but he has ceded carries lately to Donovan Edwards (114 carries, 513 yards, 3 TD) and even Benjamin Hall (4 carries, 9 yards against Indiana). Head coach Sherrone Moore hinted that a couple other backs could see playing time this week, including freshmen Micah Ka'apana and Jordan Marshall. The offensive line should see the return of starting RG Giovanni El-Hadi this week, but with RT Andrew Gentry out for the season and backup OT Jeffrey Persi working back from an injury, the right tackle spot will be manned by Evan Link. Northwestern is #28 in rush defense (114.6 yards allowed/game) and #28 in yards allowed per carry (3.59). The general trend is that the solid teams have run the ball well against the Wildcats, and the bad teams haven't; Washington, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio State have all gone for 144+ yards on the ground. Michigan hasn't been greatly effective at running the ball, but they are pretty committed to hammering away until they clearly can't do it. Junior weakside LB Mac Uihlein (6'1", 230) leads the team with 65 tackles, followed by redshirt junior CB (yikes!) Theran Johnson (5'11", 182) and redshirt sophomore nickel Robert Fitzgerald (6'0", 208) with 44 stops each. The defensive front is made up of fourth-year or older players, with 6'3", 310 lb. DT R.J. Pearson and 6'2", 297 lb. DT Carmine Bastone in the middle; one defensive end is Aidan Hubbard (6'4", 252), the brother of former Ohio State and current NFL defensive end Sam Hubbard. Hubbard and 6'3", 272 lb. DE Jaylen Pate lead the team with 5 tackles for loss each. I don't think Michigan will run over Northwestern, but I do think they will be able to keep the chains moving, especially if they can incorporate QB Alex Orji in some +1 runs. Advantage: Michigan
Michigan defensive back Mike Sainristil recently finished one of the greatest defensive seasons in school history, notching 6 interceptions and returning them for 232 yards and 2 touchdowns. Altogether, he finished with 7 interceptions and 240 yards for his career. Where does that rank historically?
431 yards on 25 interceptions - Tom Curtis (1967-1969)
240 yards on 7 interceptions - Mike Sainristil (2022-2023)
237 yards on 9 interceptions - Will Johnson (2022-2024)
202 yards on 9 interceptions - David Brown (1972-1974)
182 yards on 8 interceptions - Thomas Darden (1969-1971)
169 yards on 10 interceptions - Marcus Ray (1995-1998)
169 yards on 6 interceptions - Blake Countess (2013)
145 yards on 6 interceptions - Raymon Taylor (2012-2013)
141 yards on 8 interceptions - Tony Jackson (1980-1981)
132 yards on 10 interceptions - Keith Bostic (1980-1982)
RUSH OFFENSE vs. INDIANA RUSH DEFENSE Michigan is #62 in rushing offense (165 yards/game) and #62 in yards per carry (4.59). Hooray for consistency! Unfortunately, the Wolverines have not topped 4.0 yards per carry in any of the last three games. Last week they managed just 105 yards on 28 carries against Oregon, and that's with quarterback Davis Warren not taking any sacks. The Ducks had Michigan's running game downloaded last week and the Wolverines got just 16 yards from Kalel Mullings and 52 yards from Donovan Edwards, as Michigan started the game by trying to run laterally without much success. Both RT Andrew Gentry (lost for the season against Michigan State) and backup OT Jeffrey Persi (left last week's game due to a leg injury) are presumably out, meaning Michigan had to revert to struggling redshirt freshman RT Evan Link. Indiana is #1 in the country in rush defense (72.6 yards/game) and #2 in yards allowed per carry (2.52). They shut down Michigan State's rushing offense completely last week, holding the Spartans to -36 rushing yards on 32 overall attempts. Junior JMU transfer Aiden Fisher (6'1", 233) leads the team with 84 tackles from his linebacker position, and senior JMU transfer Jailin Walker (6'1", 218) is second with 52. They're #11 in tackles for loss per game (7.67). Michigan's run game has been struggling for the past couple weeks, so unless they figure out how to use RPOs with Davis Warren, I think it's going to be tough sledding. Advantage: Indiana
Fulshear (TX) Katy Jordan wide receiver Andrew Marsh committed to Michigan on August 20, 2024. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Texas, USC, and Washington, among others.
Marsh is listed at 6'1" and 175 pounds. As a junior in 2024, he caught 65 passes for 1,158 yards and 15 touchdowns. He high-jumps 6'4" and ran a 50.50 in the 400 meters.
Chester (VA) Thomas Dale cornerback Shamari Earls flipped from Georgia to Michigan. He picked the Wolverines over other offers from Alabama, Miami, Tennessee, and USC, among others.
Earls is listed at 6'2" and 180 pounds on 247 Sports, although I have heard he's closer to 200 pounds now; an article on 247 Sports says he's 203 pounds. As a junior in 2023, he caught 29 passes for 715 yards and 8 touchdowns; he also made 25 tackles and 3 interceptions. He runs a 10.8 in the meters and a 21.78 in the 200 meters, and both his high jump (6'2") and long jump (23'10 3/4") numbers are pretty good.
Well, the coaching stunk. Where do you start? And where do you stop? Michigan lost a possession because Oregon lined up in a funky punt formation, and it's illegal to line up over the snapper. Michigan's best 4th-and-5 call toward the end of the game was an end around pass with Semaj Morgan, and he threw the ball to Alex Orji, who had run out of bounds. The best thing about the entire offense was Davis Warren-to-Colston Loveland, and when it came down to crunch time, Michigan put the ball in Alex Orji's and Semaj Morgan's hands. Coaches always talk about "players, not plays" and Michigan very clearly went for "plays, not players." Gross. Michigan had no answers in the run game, whether on options or RPOs. They challenged a Colston Loveland dropped pass for no reason, which cost them a timeout. I don't want to say coaching cost them the game, because Oregon is clearly a better team. But it probably wouldn't have been a 21-point loss.
RUSH OFFENSE vs. OREGON RUSH DEFENSE Michigan didn't help itself too much last week, but they rank #52 nationally in rush offense (172.6 yards/game) and #61 in yards per carry (4.67). Both Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards were held under 2.5 yards/carry, but backup QB Alex Orji rotated in with starter Davis Warren to average 10.7 yards/carry on 6 attempts and score 1 touchdown. The offensive line also suffered a loss with new starting RT Andrew Gentry suffering a non-contact injury, which message board rumors suggest is a season-ender. Oregon is #40 in rush defense (123.5 yards allowed/game) and #68 in yards allowed per carry (4.05). They have shut down some of the bad teams on their schedule, but teams like Purdue, Boise State, Ohio State, and Illinois have run the ball decently. Star DT Jordan Burch (6'6", 295) has been out with a knee injury but might return this week; he has 19 tackles and 7 tackles for loss in five games this season. Otherwise, redshirt junior DT Derrick Harmon (6'5", 310) is a Michigan State transfer who has 27 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss. Fifth year senior MLB Bryce Boettcher (6'2", 225) leads the team with 46 tackles, followed by senior Ole Miss transfer Tysheem Johnson (5'10", 200) with 39. Another player to note is sophomore OLB Matayo Uiagalelei (6'5", 270), who has 27 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss. I think Michigan is going to struggle to run the ball against a quick Oregon defense, especially if Burch returns and is in good form. Advantage: Oregon
