Tag: game preview

Preview: Michigan vs. Nebraska

RUSH OFFENSE vs. NEBRASKA RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is #15 in rushing (242.7 yards/game) and yards per carry (6.12). The revelation last week was QB Bryce Underwood’s legs when he ran 9 times for 114 yards and 1 touchdown. Running back Justice Haynes has 100+ yards in all three games this season and averages 7.92 yards per attempt so far. Backup RB Jordan Marshall (10 carries, 52 yards, 2 TD last week) had his best game and showed off some nice speed, though one long touchdown run was called back because of a hold. On the offensive line, Michigan will likely be without LG Giovanni El-Hadi but should get RG Brady Norton back from injury. Nebraska is #75 in rushing defense (136 yards allowed/game) and #84 in yards allowed per carry (4.04). Against the lone Power 4 team they played so far, they gave up 30 carries for 202 yards (6.7 yards/carry) to Cincinnati, including 13 carries for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns to QB Brendan Sorsby. Underwood is obviously a better athlete than Sorsby, so has Nebraska figured anything out? Will Michigan let Underwood run that much? It remains to be seen. Nebraska runs a 3-3-5 defense, so the base includes a good number of defensive backs, but their top five tacklers are all defensive backs. Senior safety DeShon Singleton (6’3″, 210) and redshirt freshman Rex Guthrie (6’1″, 200) lead the team with 12 tackles each. Former top-100 recruit Elijah Jeudy (6’3″, 300) starts at nose tackle after coming over from Alabama, and Missouri transfer Williams Nwaneri (6’7″, 265) is another former highly recruited player who starts on the defensive line. Michigan should be too big for Nebraska to handle up front, but the 3-3-5 can be tough against gap runs, because sometimes all those linebackers can get run-throughs when linemen pull.
Advantage: Michigan

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Preview: Michigan vs. Central Michigan

I’ve been aware of Matt Drinkall for a while because of clinics and such. Having spent several years at Army recently, he’s very much entrenched in that style of football, which is about discipline and conservative football.

RUSH OFFENSE vs. CENTRAL MICHIGAN RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is #60 in rushing offense (173.5 yards/game) after two contests and #37 in yards per carry (5.42), based largely on the running of Alabama transfer Justice Haynes (35 carries, 284 yards, 4 touchdowns), who has 75-, 59-, and 56-yard runs already this year. The big question for this phase is the offensive line, which already lost 5-star freshman Andrew Babalola prior to the season and saw left guard Giovanni El-Hadi go down last week against Oklahoma. Even Cal Poly transfer Brady Norton, the starter at right guard, had to leave last week’s game at one point, drawing in redshirt freshman Jake Guarnera. El-Hadi will likely miss this week’s game, so I would expect Nate Efobi to start this week. Central Michigan is #48 in yards allowed per game (99.5) and #84 in yards allowed per carry (3.98) after a week in which they allowed Pitt to run 26 times for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. That’s not an awful performance, but it indicates CMU will probably struggle against a Big Ten rushing attack. Senior inside linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski (6’1″, 235) leads the team with 14 tackles and fifth year senior OLB Dakota Cochran (6’2″, 240) is right behind him with 13. Redshirt sophomore OLB Korver Demma (6’3″, 245), a transfer from Nebraska, leads the team with 1.5 tackles for loss. The defensive line will be undersized compared to most Michigan opponents. This should be a “get right” game for Michigan’s offensive line to continue working on its cohesiveness.
Advantage: Michigan

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Preview: Michigan vs. Oklahoma

RUSH OFFENSE vs. OKLAHOMA RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan got a breakout game from Alabama transfer RB Justice Haynes last week (16 carries, 159 yards, 3 touchdowns), all of which were also career highs for him. It was a bright spot, but it was really the only bright spot of the runners as #2 running back Jordan Marshall (11 carries, 29 yards) struggled to find space and QB Bryce Underwood didn’t run at all. The offensive line played fairly well overall, helped out by tight ends Marlin Klein and Max Bredeson in the run game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Michigan work in a couple designed runs for Underwood this week. Oklahoma allowed 83 yards on 13 carries in the first half against Illinois State last week before shoring things up in the second half, allowing 13 carries for just 34 yards after intermission. Was it because Oklahoma made adjustments, or did the Redbirds just run out of gas? The defensive line is supposedly one of the better ones in the SEC and they’re all seniors, including DE Marvin Jones, Jr. (6’5″, 262), who’s the son of former FSU and NFL linebacker Marvin Jones, and TCU transfer DT Damonic Williams (6’1″, 323), who played against Michigan back in 2022 as a Horned Frog. DE R Mason Thomas (6’2″, 249) led the team last year with 12.5 tackles for loss and 9 sacks. As strong as the defensive line is, the top four tacklers last week were linebackers, led by junior Sammy Omosigho (6’1″, 235).
Advantage: Michigan

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Preview: Michigan vs. New Mexico

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

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Preview: Michigan vs. Ohio State

RUSH OFFENSE vs. OHIO STATE RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan had a solid rushing effort last week against Northwestern and still ranks just #71 nationally (159.6 yards/game) and #62 in yards per carry (4.47). Kalel Mullings (12 carries, 92 yards, 3 touchdowns against Northwestern) is now up to 11 scores on the year, while Donovan Edwards (10 carries, 65 yards, 1 TD last week) had his second-highest rushing average of the year. Backup quarterback Alex Orji has 50 carries for 228 yards and 1 touchdown this year, but has two DNPs in the past five weeks, including against Northwestern. I would think Orji would get a few snaps just to give Davis Warren a breather from what will probably be a tough day of avoiding the pass rush, but maybe not. Meanwhile, Ohio State is #3 in rush defense (90 yards allowed/game) and yards allowed per carry (2.7). They have allowed more than 3.75 yards/carry to just two teams, Iowa and #1 Oregon. Junior LB Sonny Styles (6’4″, 235) leads the team with 71 tackles, followed by senior LB Cody Simon (6’2″, 235) with 65. Senior DT Tyleik Williams (6’3″, 327) is a force in the middle of the defense with 25 tackles and 5 tackles for loss, and senior DE J.T. Tuimoloau (6’5″, 269) leads the team with 11 TFL. Northwestern did a good job of stopping the run in the first half last week, but they ran out of steam in the second half and gave up. I don’t think Ohio State is going to do that this year.
Advantage: Ohio State

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