‘Refocused’ Michigan Wolverines Had Strong Finish To 2024 Season

On each of the five occasions Michigan came up short on the scoreboard this season, Sherrone Moore preferred to view the setbacks as lessons that needed be learned as opposed to getting caught up in the number in the loss column. Or, as he put it following the Wolverines’ ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama on New Year’s Eve afternoon, “We talked about lessons. Not losses.”

The UM fan base was not interested in hearing about lessons as the losses occurred as frequently as the wins through the first 10 games of Moore’s initial season as a collegiate head coach. At 5-5 following a 20-15 loss – Lesson? — at Indiana, the Wolverines had a bye prior to their final two regular season games and made very good use of it.

“We really homed in and recommitted to the things we needed to get better at,” said Moore, who served as Jim Harbaugh’s co-offensive coordinator and solo OC for three seasons before he was handed the keys to the program. “It was really the fundamentals, the little pieces and doing those things really, really well.”

Michigan came out of the bye and blew out visiting Northwestern, 50-6. That followed a seemingly improbable 13-10 win at No. 2 Ohio State, an outcome that sent shockwaves through the college football landscape. It was not an improbable outcome to those wearing the maize and blue, however. Nor was traveling to Tampa to defeat No. 11 Alabama, 19-13, in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

“We refocused, we retooled, and I am really proud of our staff and our players,” Moore said after beating the Crimson Tide, the team Michigan defeated in a CFP semifinal a year ago before downing Kalen DeBoer’s Washington Huskies to win the national title.

A bowl victory over DeBoer’s Tide resulted despite a bevy of opt-outs. The running game was minus the team’s leading rushers, Kalel Mullings (948 yards) and Donovan Edwards (589), and tight end and leading receiver Colston Loveland (56 catches). Wink Martindale’s unit was lacking key personnel as well. More on that below.

Defense Led The Way

Not surprisingly, it was the defense that spearheaded the Wolverines’ end-of-season turnaround. There is no better proof than holding Indiana (20), albeit in a loss, Ohio State (10) and Alabama (13) to a combined 43 points. The three teams were averaging a combined 113 points through the final day of 2024, a figure knocked down a bit thanks to Martindale’s defense. Then there was the rout of Northwestern in which UM held the Wildcats to a field goal. Add it up and it’s 46 points allowed over the final four games.

“Our defense played incredible the last few games,” said Moore, of a unit that ranks fourth nationally against the run (91 yards) and 12^th in total defense (307 yards). “A big shoutout to coach Wink.”

Michigan held the Tide to 260 yards, including a season-low 68 on the ground. Thanks in part to end Derrick Moore (two sacks, fumble recovery) and corner Aamir Hall (season high nine tackles), the defense kept humming even without a number of key cogs who opted out, including All-Everything DB Will Johnson, who missed the second half of the season due to a toe injury. The interior duo of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant were also absent. Other opt-outs included edge Josiah Stewart, who led the unit with 8.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss.

The offense? Well, there are not many teams that can win, let alone go 8-5, with continued difficulties in executing the forward pass. Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle, who was concussed for a fifth time in his career earlier in the season and retired from the sport, combined to produce a pass efficiency rating that is, and will remain when the postseason is complete, 128^th among 134 FBS teams.

The ineptitude might be better illustrated with what happened when the triumvirate of QBs completed passes this season. They combined to average 8.8 yards per completion, the nation’s worst figure. (It should be noted that before an early-third quarter knee injury ended his afternoon, Warren completed 9-of-12 passes with a touchdown and, here is the key: no turnovers against Alabama. Orji took over for the duration.)

The above passing figures, which would make Pop Warner restless in his grave, are why Chip Lindsey was given $4.5 million over three years to take over the offense from Kirk Campbell. Lindsey was on Mack Brown’s staff at North Carolina the past two seasons following a three-year stint as head coach at Troy.

Looking Ahead

The situation at quarterback will be much different for the 2025 season, and it needs to be.

“We want to be explosive on offense and that is something we have to work on in the offseason, especially in the passing game,” said Moore, who will the turn the page from Warren (uncertain 2025), Orji (portal) and Tuttle (career over).

Help is on the way for a team that found a way this season, and Moore feels good about what has transpired with his program over the past few weeks.

“We feel like we’ve got a bright future the way we’re recruiting, the guys we’re bringing in, the guys we’re keeping, to make sure Michigan is the best version of Michigan that it can be,” he said.

Among those on their way to Ann Arbor via the transfer portal is quarterback Mikey Keene, who began his career at UCF where he spent two seasons, one of which was under Lindsey’s tutelage. Keene transferred to Fresno State and threw 42 touchdown passes in two seasons, including 18 this year. In 13 games this season, Michigan quarterbacks threw 12 TD passes, three less than Navy.

Keene could serve as a more than capable and experienced bridge for one season until top recruit Bryce Underwood is ready, not that any player’s development is guaranteed. Other faces in the quarterback room will include Jaydn Davis, who was a top 10 rated QB in the class of 2024.

The running game may already have a new look, at least to some degree. The Wolverines got an MVP performance in the bowl from Jordan Marshall. The freshman carried the ball eight times in the regular season (20 yards) before he was pressed into service against the Crimson Tide. His response: 100 yards on 23 turnover-free carries. Hence, a potential key piece for the near future arrived in earnest the final day of 2024.

“It’s a big setup for next year,” Marshall said of a meaningful bowl win. “Alabama was supposed to be in the playoff, this and that, but we came out here and showed everybody that we were a team to be reckoned with and (will be) next year.”