Michigan’s Taylor Upshaw hits the transfer portal

Tuesday evening, Michigan’s Taylor Upshaw entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. Upshaw will be a graduate transfer and played a notable role on the Wolverines’ 2022 team that won the Big Ten Championship and finished the season 13-1.

Upshaw’s time at Michigan

During Upshaw’s five years in Ann Arbor, the 6-4, 255 lbs defensive lineman saw action in many games and environments. As a recruit, Upshaw was rated as a 3-star composite by 247 Sports and committed to Jim Harbaugh and Co. in November of 2017.

Upshaw redshirted during his freshman season in 2018. The Wolverines went on to finish No. 14 in the polls with a 10-3 overall record. In 2019, his sophomore season, Upshaw appeared in six games, including the Wolverines’ 44-10 romping of Michigan State.

In 2020 Upshaw saw action in all six of Michigan’s games, even starting two games. The year after, Upshaw appears in 12 of Michigan’s 14 games during the Wolverines’ Big Ten Championship run. Upshaw was also a role player on Michigan’s 13-1 squad in 2022.

One of the highlights of Upshaw’s career at Michigan was his game-sealing interception against No. 2 Ohio State in November of 2022. Upshaw managed to pick off CJ Stroud in Michigan’s 45-23 routing of the Buckeyes, which effectively ended the game and sent Michigan football to the Big Ten Title game.

Why is Taylor Upshaw leaving Michigan?

So far, no official reason has been announced as to why Upshaw is leaving Michigan football. It can be assumed that a lot of this has to do with playing time seeing as Upshaw’s only two starts in the Maize and Blue came during 2020.

At the same time, with the situation surrounding Jim Harbaugh’s future with Michigan football still unfolding, you never know. Still, the safe bet is that Taylor Upshaw is leaving U of M on good terms due to playing time.

Upshaw appeared in 36 games at Michigan and had a handful of memorable plays in the Winged Helmet. We wish Taylor the best of luck wherever he ends up.