Tag: game preview

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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Preview: Michigan vs. Northwestern

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

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Preview: Michigan vs. Indiana

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

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Preview: Michigan vs. Oregon

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

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