The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2023 THE WOLVERINE 21 Ohio State provide him legend status in the game's storied history. "We had complete confidence in him," grad student center Olu Oluwatimi said. "We knew when he got his opportunity to be the guy in the backfield that he would shine. He did just that. "If you look at every game over Don's career where he's been at Michigan, where he's gotten a certain amount of carries, he's done a lot with those carries. His av- erage per carry is very high. So, we knew once he filled in with that, it was going to be excellent." But it all comes from preparation, Moore added, and he credited the strength staff for a big part of that. "Coach [Ben] Herbert and his staff are unbelievable in what they do — the strength, the power, the explosiveness, the flexibility," Moore said. "What they give us from a coaching standpoint is a springboard to make big, huge strong athletes. Those guys do an unbelievable job." So much so that Harbaugh wanted to nominate him for the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach. He couldn't, though — it has to be a coach on the field — and he nominated Jesse Minter, instead. Minter's defense struggled against TCU, but he was still a finalist and had a great year. With a year under his belt and several great building blocks, his group could be even better next year. All in all, between that and what's com- ing back on offense, it sets up for another nice run at an elusive national title, with experience and talent on both sides of the ball and even more motivation to reach the pinnacle. ❏ The Big Ten media was more convinced than ever they had the conference race figured out heading into the 2023 season. Ohio State, which was slated to play Michigan at home and brought back a loaded roster, was the unanimous choice to dethrone the Wolverines after U-M stunned the Buckeyes last year to capture its first crown since 2004. Instead, Michigan thrashed them again … and at their own place. While some pointed to the 2021 win over the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor as a turning point for the program, graduating defensive tackle Mazi Smith disagreed. "No — the final thing we needed to do is win a national championship," he said. "It was cool [beating OSU] but we need to turn the page quick and get to the next point really quick. That's what it's about. "Even in the NFL, it isn't about what have you done — it's about what have you done lately. You can't bask in the glory." Though they fell short with a semifinal playoff loss to TCU, the Wolverines have another great chance next year, most pundits predict. FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt has the Wolverines sec- ond nationally only to two-time defending national champion Georgia, followed by Ohio State, Alabama and Penn State. "The Wolverines made their second consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff, once again falling short of the national title game," he said. "The team is expected to return an abun- dance of talent next season, including quarterback J.J. McCar- thy, running back Blake Corum, and linebacker Junior Colson. "Assuming Jim Harbaugh remains the Wolverines' head coach in 2023, the Big Ten should once again go through Ann Arbor next season." ESPN.com senior writer Mark Schlabach, however, disagreed, putting the Wolverines third behind Georgia and OSU. He did, however, acknowledge that U-M could still be the team to beat in 2023. "If Harbaugh leaves, Michigan will probably fall out of the top four," he said. "[But] it finally seemed to turn the corner under Harbaugh, defeating rival Ohio State and reaching the CFP in each of the past two seasons. "Depending on how many underclassmen return in 2023, Michigan could again be the team to beat in the Big Ten." Several of those young players — and many of the upper- classmen, even — have already decided to return, including Corum, offensive guards Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter, defen- sive back Mike Sainristil, and others. One of the biggest, of course, is quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who will return for his third season, his second as a starter. Last year was a benchmark that they could look at to realize they could get to the playoff, he noted. "It was always that you can't get over the hump of Ohio State and the Big Ten championship, and last year we did," he said. "To be able to refer to that has been huge throughout the offseason. It fuels us even more that we need to get past that point. It's … we're not just happy to be here. We want to get past it. "I feel like we got better in the offseason. You can kind of get an idea how a team is going to perform by how seriously they took the offseason. I have said on multiple occasions the wins get won in the summer and winter. If you aren't working hard then, you're going to be losing. So, we kind of prepare for that, expected that, needed that to happen." They'll need it to happen again in 2023. They'll have to travel to Penn State in November, and the Nittany Lions improved dramatically throughout the year. OSU, too, will be stinging from its last two losses, and road trips to Nebraska and Min- nesota (back-to-back) could be tricky. But this is a team that's been there before, and it returns a lot of players with experience. The offseason has begun, and they're already back to work. — Chris Balas Michigan Should Be The Big Ten Favorite In 2023 Linebacker Junior Colson, U-M's leading tackler in 2022, will return for his third year and the opportunity to make another run at the College Football Playoff in 2023. PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF