Tag: Wink Martindale

Michigan 24, Washington 7

NOTE: Again, I apologize for the inconsistent posting schedule lately. Too many things going on right now. I’ve started preview posts the past two weeks and just haven’t been able to finish.

Bryce Underwood is a dude. The talent of Bryce Underwood is off the charts. Michigan has never seen anything like him on their roster. The closest is Drew Henson or Devin Gardner, but Underwood is a twitchier athlete than Henson and a better thrower than Gardner. Underwood completed 21/27 passes for 230 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions, and he looked to be in control the entire game. There were a few drops, but I don’t love taking away the drops and making pronouncements about what his completion percentage should be, because then you’re not comparing apples to apples when it comes to other quarterbacks or general expectations. It’s sufficient enough to describe his accuracy by saying he completed 21/27 passes.

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Michigan 19, Alabama 13

Surprise, surprise, surprise! For the second game in a row, almost nobody gave Michigan a chance to win. And for the second game in a row, almost everybody was wrong. The mighty Alabama Crimson Tide, who almost made the College Football Playoff with a 9-3 record, fell to 9-4. And when all is said and done, on paper that’s not far from where Michigan finished at 8-5. Alabama had lost some players to the transfer portal, but Michigan was missing ten starters (Myles Hinton, Colston Loveland, Kalel Mullings, Tyler Morris, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, Will Johnson, Makari Paige, Tommy Doman) and the guy who was on the cover of NCAA ’25 (Donovan Edwards) and still won the game.

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Michigan 13, Ohio State 10

I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I underestimated Michigan again. I really should know better by now when it comes to the Ohio State game, but I just thought the #2 team that was 10-1 going into The Game would be good enough to beat the 6-5 team with no hope of a Big Ten Championship, no hope of a playoff, and a barely achieved realization of bowl eligibility. The 6-5 team was missing its best offensive player (Colston Loveland) and best defensive player (Will Johnson), not to mention a great senior safety (Rod Moore) who sealed a former iteration of The Game with an interception. By the day of the game, it was a 19.5-point spread and the only people picking Michigan were homer TV personalities like Charles Woodson and Desmond Howard.

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Michigan 50, Northwestern 6

I’m happy for the seniors. FS1 put up a stat box at one point talking about the seniors on Michigan’s team and their accomplishments. Over the past 3+ seasons, they have won a national championship, won the Big Ten three times, and gone 3-0 against Ohio State. We also saw senior Tavierre Dunlap score his first career touchdown on senior night at home. We saw Donovan Edwards get in the end zone for just the fourth time this year, which has been a disappointing season relative to expectations. There was Kalel Mullings scoring a career-high 3 touchdowns. We also saw transplanted players like Josaiah Stewart getting 2 sacks, T.J. Guy getting 1 sack, and Aamir Hall getting his first career interception in a Michigan uniform. This year has not gone according to plan overall, but at least senior night went well.

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Oregon 38, Michigan 17

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.

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