As of early November, Michigan football was in jeopardy of missing out on a bowl game for the first time since 2014 (excluding 2020). Explosive plays on offense were few and far between, and it seemed to bring the rest of the team’s performance down. Head coach Sherrone Moore often emphasized how the team needed to focus on the little things, but it wasn’t being shown on gameday.
How Michigan football turned itself around
However, after falling to 5-5 with a 20-15 loss to Indiana, something changed for the maize and blue.
“Yeah, we just want to finish,” Moore said after the ReliaQuest Bowl on Tuesday. “Obviously you want to win every game, and we didn’t do that, so took a lot of pride in after that last — we played Indiana, then we had a bye week, and really honing in and recommitting to the things that we needed to get better at, and it was really the fundamentals, the little pieces, doing those things really, really well, and those usually end up in those results.
“We refocused, we retooled, and really proud of our staff and our players.”
Michigan won its final three games with an old-school approach focused on running the ball, stopping the run and playing sound on special teams. The maize and blue allowed just 29 points in their final three games, including 10 to No. 2 Ohio State and 13 to No. 11 Alabama. The Buckeyes and the Crimson Tide combined for 145 rushing yards against the Wolverines.
In ‘The Game’, Michigan running back Kalel Mullings went for 116 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries. Mullings opted to sit for the bowl game, but freshman Jordan Marshall stepped in and stepped up with 100 yards on 23 carries. He will likely share the backfield with Alabama transfer Justice Haynes in 2025, but Marshall proved what he can do as a lead back with MVP honors at the ReliaQuest Bowl.
How recent success could translate to 2025
Derrick Moore (DE) and Dominic Zvada (K) are both returning for their senior seasons, and Michigan fans likely rejoiced in the news. Moore was nothing short of a problem in the bowl game, notching four solo tackles (two TFL), two sacks and a fumble recovery. Zvada accounted for 13 points on Tuesday, which was the same amount Alabama scored as a team. He finished the season 21-of-22 (95.5%) on field goals this season, including a perfect 7-of-7 from at least 50 yards out.
In addition to the aforementioned returning players, the Wolverines are set to welcome a top ten recruiting class in 2025, including quarterback and No. 1 recruit Bryce Underwood. If the Wolverines can stay fundamentally sound, their floor should be much higher next season. Considering a limited Michigan team beat all of its rivals and a borderline playoff squad in a bowl game, the ceiling should be much higher too.
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