The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503142
THE WOLVERINE 2023 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 13 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL "We're trending up. The team is getting better and better, and we're in hopes to do more damage than we did last year." Sophomore defensive tackle Mason Graham "They're in a great spot. They get Ohio State at home. Jim Harbaugh has taken his program to the highest level that it's been at since he's been in Ann Arbor. If they can stay healthy, they're going to have a real shot this year." — ESPN analyst KIRK HERBSTREIT on Michigan's national title chances PHOTO COURTESY ON3.COM 6,423 Total yards for the Michigan offense in 2022, the most by a Michigan team in history, ahead of 2010 (6,353), 2021 (6,203), 2003 (5,807) and 1992 (5,603). The Wolverines' 40.4 points per game were their most since 1904 and the program's fifth-highest mark of all time. 989 989 Wins for Michigan football since it began playing in 1879, the most in college football history. The Wolverines are only 11 shy of becoming the first program to hit the 1,000-victory mark. They have a commanding lead on Ohio State (953) and Alabama (953), which are tied for second place, Notre Dame (938), Texas (936), Oklahoma (934), Penn State (920) and Nebraska (912). There are only eight FBS programs with 900 or more wins. Yale has 929 and is in the FCS. There's a thought that if you can get him into a drop-back passing game, you can take advantage of him a little bit. But he's in a complex system … they don't always do a lot of stuff that gets easy completions. I do think he's very talented, and I think he really gets them going with his feet. That's the underrated part of his game." AN ANONYMOUS BIG TEN COORDINATOR TO ESPN.COM ON JUNIOR QUARTERBACK J.J. MCCARTHY 3 Straight outright Big Ten championships is what Michigan is working to capture this season, a feat that's never been ac- complished in program history. Including shared titles, however, the Maize and Blue have won three-plus in a row on six occa- sions — 1901-06 (6), 1930-33 (4), 1947-50 (4), 1971-74 (4), 1976-78 (3), 1988-92 (5). 27th Is where Michigan stood in On3's 2023 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings as of June 7. The Wolverines lost 14 transfers and reeled in nine this offseason. Based on On3's Transfer Portal Player Rankings, the Wolverines nabbed four four-star prospects and five three-stars. 63.5 PERCENT career completion percentage for junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy, ranking third in U-M history behind Todd Collins (64.3) and Jake Rudock (64). PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL "He's definitely somebody that we gotta get the ball to. He's gotta eat. That makes us better, makes us more dangerous." — Jim Harbaugh on junior running back DONOVAN EDWARDS