Revisiting what Michigan needs to do to find success this season (2024)

Michigan continues to have an up-and-down season following their 2024 National Championship win. It’s the start of the Sherrone Moore era and while he picked up a big win over a top-15 team at home against USC, Michigan fell to Washington on the road and lost to Texas at home in the second game of the season.

Despite losing so much to the NFL, including former head coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum, and cornerback Mike Sainristil, it’d be disingenuous to suggest there weren’t still expectations for this year’s team. Still, the Michigan defense retained three top contributors in Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and Will Johnson, not to mention Josaiah Stewart and Derrick Moore, there was some expectation that this would still be a top unit in the country.

Many expected to see a drop-off on offense, but the problems on the offensive line and with the passing game are much worse than expected, especially given the talent we’ve seen on the offensive line in recent seasons. Having a healthy Jack Tuttle could change some things, but he’s not one to take up the hero role and carry this team on his back. The Wolverines need everything to come together if they’re going to turn things around in the second half of the season.

If you missed it in the offseason, I put together a list of things that I thought had the potential to make or break Michigan’s season. After a 4-2 start, I’m looking back on that list to see which predictions panned out and offering some perspective on things that could improve in the second half of the season.

Make: Alex Orji wins the starting job and his passing game exceeds expectations

A well-rounded Alex Orji could have given Michigan a path to success, but he’s not making the throws you need a quarterback to make. He is 23-of-43, for 148 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He has a season-high 58.3 completion percent against USC.

Assessment: Orji is not able to “sling it” and that’s contributed to some of the offensive struggles for this team. With Tuttle back and healthy it seems like the Wolverines like that option moving forward. While Orji is still a talented athlete you need someone who can pass the ball for more than 16 yards downfield at quarterback.

Break: Michigan loses the turnover battle

Turnovers are a major issue for the Wolverines in 2024, and despite efforts from its defense, Michigan has a turnover margin of -4. Yikes! They have turned the ball over 12 times this season, with quarterbacks throwing eight interceptions and fumbles from Tuttle, Donovan Edwards, Colston Loveland, and even Kenneth Grant.

Assessment: Fixing the turnover issue should be a top priority for players and coaches as they head into the second half of the season. If it’s just one player it’s easy to say they have a problem, but every quarterback who has played this season has thrown an interception. Some of Michigan’s stars have uncharacteristically fumbled the ball. You can’t win with this team averaging two turnovers per game.

Make: The coaching staff gets creative when it comes to Donovan Edwards

After strong showings from Kalel Mullings, the Michigan coaching staff had to mix things up with the position. That meant dropping some of the snaps to Donovan Edwards. Edwards has 73 carries for 353 yards, three touchdowns, and a fumble. He’s had a few big runs this season, but we haven’t seen a lot of creativity with Edwards. He also has nine receptions for 46 yards and one touchdown.

Assessment: With the lack of standout wide receivers, Michigan could still get its offense going if it incorporated Donovan Edwards into more drives. At Washington, it looked like the coaching staff saw Edwards get a big run and reverted to a more conservative way of running the ball, that’s disappointing.

Break: Injuries on the offensive line

Injuries have been a major issue on the offensive line this season. Center Dom Giudice and Greg Crippen both missed playing time because of injury. On the road at Washington, Myles Hinton was out, which meant Jeffrey Persi started for the Wolverines.

Assessment: Unfortunately, what’s wrong with the offensive line goes well beyond injuries. I extended a certain amount of trust to the coaching staff because of the Oline strength over the past few years, but this season’s situation is giving me pause.

At center, the Wolverines have been rotating centers, when injuries aren’t an issue. At right tackle, Evan Link is the worst-graded player on the team according to Pro Football Focus, and a guy that was supposedly challenging him, Andrew Gentry, has the third-highest PFF grade on the offense. While Gentry hasn’t been on the field for nearly as many snaps this offensive line needs more than just rest in the bye week to help the team win moving forward.

Make: Wink Martindale’s scheme perfectly utilizes the talent on defense

This season, Michigan has 17 sacks for 113 yards, which is close to the pace of last year’s 40 total sacks. The defensive line is still dominant in games, but the defense allows twice as many points as they did in 2023. This season opponents are averaging 22.33 points per game, compared to 10.40 in 2023. In 2023 the defense allowed 199 total first downs through 15 games, this year Michigan opponents have 114 first downs through six games.

Assessment: Wink’s system doesn’t seem to be working. This is a much tougher schedule than last year, but there’s something wrong when all the players in your secondary have moments where they don’t seem to know what they’re supposed to do. Michigan’s defense gave up eight passing touchdowns in 2023, they’re already up to 12 this year, and at least part of the blame rests with the DC. Maybe the bye week can help adjust some things to help out the players, but if that doesn’t happen it might be tough for the team to get enough points on the board to win.

Break: Major injuries in the secondary

This year, Michigan is dealing with more injuries than you’d like to see. Ahead of the Washington game, the injury report was long. Some depth players in the secondary like corners Aamir Hall and Ja’Den McBurrows were out with an injury and safeties Jaden Mangham and Wesley Walker were also on the injury list. Will Johnson was listed as questionable. While Johnson played, Michigan has missed him in some of its closer games.

Assessment: This was a problem for the defense last year. They have players who are getting beat or blowing coverages, but you can’t get them off the field long enough to correct things. For one, the offense isn’t giving them a whole lot of time to rest, and secondly, there’s no one to go in a game to give one of the guys a break. Let’s hope the bye week allows for guys like Walker and Hall to get healthy, unfortunately, the injuries to Mangham and McBurrows sound more long-term.

Make: Dynamic player on punt return

This season, Michigan has returned nine punts for 97 yards, averaging 10.78 yards per return. That’s about what this team did last year.

Assessment: Semaj Morgan shows some promise on punt returns with a return for 19 yards and a return for 22. There’s still some time to improve on this and with the way receivers are playing this year, this might be a chance for guys like Tyler Morris or Morgan to have an impact in the back half of the season.

Break: Struggles in the kicking game

Dominic Zvada is a perfect 8-of-8 on the year, hitting multiple 50+ attempts. His only blemish on the season is a missed extra point against USC.

Assessment: Dominic Zvada is the most consistent player on this Michigan roster and, unfortunately, the offense just isn’t gaining enough yards to send our kick unit out there. In 2021, Jake Moody was 23-of-25 and helped Michigan win some big games that season. I’m not worried about the kicking game as much as the lack of opportunities.

Make: Chip Kelly doesn’t “fix” Ohio State’s offense

Ohio State is currently ninth in total offense, averaging 7.66 yards per play. They’ve scored 30 touchdowns this season and have averaged more than 500 yards per game. That’s nearly 100 more yards than what they averaged through 13 games last season.

Assessment: This weekend’s trip to Eugene for the top-five matchup against Oregon will be another good gauge for Ohio State. They’ve struggled in games early, but put their foot on the gas in the second half. They’re averaging about 200 yards rushing every game this season, and freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith is making Will Howard look even better as a passer.

Break: USC’s DC D’Anton Lynn fixes Trojans’ defensive struggles early

D’Anton Lynn has easily improved USC’s offense. What started as an unranked game at the beginning of the season, turned into a pretty big one in Week 4. USC started its season with a win over LSU but has since dropped games to Michigan and Minnesota.

Assessment: Michigan somehow managed to win this game with only 32 passing yards. While a majority of that is on Michigan’s offensive line and quarterback play, Lynn has certainly improved USC’s defense and while that win might not seem as big late in the year, it was a big accomplishment for this Michigan team.

Revisiting what Michigan needs to do to find success this season (2024)
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