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All-Time Leaders: Top Bowl Game Performances

With Michigan’s post-season coming up, here’s a look at Michigan’s top performances in bowl games over the years.

NOTE: This took a lot of time to sift through the various games, so if I missed a top performance, let me know!

SINGLE GAME PASSING YARDAGE LEADERS

1. 373 yards – Chad Henne (2007 vs. Florida)
2. 369 yards – Tom Brady (1999 vs. Alabama)
3. 343 yards – J.J. McCarthy (2022 vs. TCU)
4. 319 yards – John Navarre (2002 vs. Florida)
5. 309 yards – Chad Henne (2006 vs. USC)

Hit the jump for more.

Potential Departure Candidates: Offense

With the onslaught of transfer portal entries in college football, it’s inevitable that Michigan will face some more departures this off-season. Three players have already announced their intentions to transfer, and one (Cade McNamara to Iowa) has already found a landing spot. Tight ends Erick All and Louis Hansen are both headed for, ahem, greener pastures.

McNamara and All are both somewhat unique cases of players who played a lot but felt slighted in some way, but Hansen is a more typical case of a player buried on the depth chart who wants to see some light at the end of the tunnel. This post explores several players in similar situations who may find greener pastures elsewhere:

DISCLAIMER: This post is speculative in nature and not intended to encourage/discourage any player from leaving Michigan’s program. The reality is that college football is now a lot like unrestricted free agency from year to year.

RB TAVIERRE DUNLAP
Why he should stay: Every Michigan starting running back during his tenure has turned in a 1,000+ yard season, but they had to wait three or more years to do it. Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum have both turned in star performances after waiting their turn. Dunlap has done well when given a chance, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Why he might leave: Opportunities are limited when you’re the third string back or lower, and there’s no reason to expect much of a change in scenery for 2023. While Corum is likely headed to the NFL, Donovan Edwards is a bona fide star in the making and freshman C.J. Stokes already has many more carries (55) in one season than Dunlap has in two (16), and walk-on Isaiah Gash (19 carries, 101 yards, 2 touchdowns) even topped Dunlap in touches. When it came to the Big Ten championship game and Ohio State, Michigan decided to use a big back at times . . . but that back was the 6’2″, 232 lb. backup linebacker Kalel Mullings instead of Dunlap (6’0″, 217).

Hit the jump for more.

Hogan Hansen, Wolverine

Bellevue (WA) Bellevue tight end Hogan Hansen, a 2024 prospect, committed to Michigan on Thursday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Colorado, Florida, Miami, Oregon, Washington, and Washington State, among others.

Hansen is listed at 6’6″ and 220 lbs.

RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 81 grade, #11 TE, #252 overall
On3: 3-star, 87 grade, #27 TE
Rivals: 4-star, 5.8 grade, #12 TE
247 Sports: 4-star, 90 grade, #6 TE, #122 overall

Hit the jump for more.

2023 Recruiting Update: November 8, 2022

I have started a 2023 Transfer Portal offer board. You can find it in the dropdown menu at the top of the page.

DECOMMITMENT

Santa Margarita (CA) Rancho Santa Margarita defensive end Collins Acheampong flipped from Michigan to Miami (LINK).

COMMITMENTS

Cincinnati (OH) Winton Woods cornerback Cameron Calhoun committed to Michigan (LINK).

Arizona State offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson announced he would be transferring to Michigan (LINK).

Youngstown (OH) Chaney linebacker Jason Hewlett committed to Michigan (LINK).

Cincinnati (OH) Princeton linebacker Breeon Ishmail committed to Michigan (LINK).

Hit the jump for more.

LaDarius Henderson, Wolverine

Arizona State offensive guard LaDarius Henderson announced today that he would be spending his final year of eligibility in Ann Arbor.

Henderson was a 6’4″, 270 lb. offensive tackle prospect coming out of Waxahachie (TX) Waxahachie in the class of 2019. He was ranked as a 247 Composite 3-star and the #50 offensive tackle, and he picked ASU over offers from Boise State, Colorado State, and Illinois, among others. (Fun fact: While at Waxahachie, Henderson played for former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, who coached the program for three seasons before stepping down.)

Now listed at 6’5″ and 310 lbs., Henderson started thirteen games at left guard in 2021 – in fact, all but 12 of ASU’s offensive snaps – but only played in six games in 2022 due to injury. Overall, he has 29 career starts and was named a team captain this past season. He had accepted an invitation to the East-West Shrine Game, but instead it appears he will play for the Wolverines.

Michigan is losing at least two starters after this season in left tackle Ryan Hayes and center Olu Oluwatimi; but there’s a good chance that one or both guards, Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter, enter the NFL Draft in 2023. Henderson was ranked as an offensive tackle coming out of high school and played some as a backup tackle in 2020, but he’s more of a guard. My guess is that Michigan plans to bring him in to compete at the guard position.

A possible depth chart for 2023 could be (as the roster stands right now):

LT: Karsen Barnhart (RS Sr.), Jeffrey Persi (RS Jr.), Evan Link (Fr.)
LG: Trevor Keegan (RS Sr.), LaDarius Henderson (RS Sr.), Alessandro Lorenzetti (RS Fr.), Connor Jones (RS Fr.)
C: Greg Crippen (RS So.), Raheem Anderson (RS So.), Amir Herring (Fr.)
RG: Zak Zinter (RS Jr.), Giovanni El-Hadi (RS So.), Dominick Giudice (RS So.), Nathan Efobi (Fr.)
RT: Trente Jones (RS Sr.), Andrew Gentry (RS Fr.), Tristan Bounds (RS So.)