The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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4 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW M ichigan fell short of new head coa c h S h e r ro n e Mo o re 's hopes and expectations in his first season at the helm. Player after player echoed their coach's sentiments in the months since: 8-5 is NOT the standard for Michigan football. They get another crack at it, come Aug. 30. The challenge remains the same. The prospects look significantly more hopeful. Last year's dynamic? Pair a strong de- fense with an adequate offense, and make it work. The defense held up its end of the bar- gain, for the most part. Foes averaged 19.9 points a game, with only two — Big Ten champion Oregon and Texas, both Col- lege Football Playoff teams — reaching 30. The Wolverines stunned Ohio State with a 13-10 win in Columbus, predicated almost wholly on defense. They swamped Ala- bama's Crimson Tide in the rain, winning 19-13. The offense? Not adequate, even by the kindest rendering. The Wolverines av- eraged 22 points per game, a drop-off of nearly two touchdowns per game from the national championship season. Michigan hadn't struggled that much since Brady Hoke's final team averaged 20.9 in 2014. Only one other Michigan team has dipped that low (Rich Rodriguez's first U-M squad in 2008, at 20.2) since 1984. Three Michigan quarterbacks combined for 1,678 passing yards, a near 50 percent drop-off from 2023. A rebuilt offensive line labored to make it all go. In the end, the point-scorers didn't do enough. Enter new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, with a plan to throw more effec- tively. Enter the top quarterback prospect in the nation, freshman Bryce Underwood. Enter an insurance policy in Fresno State grad transfer Mikey Keene, who's tucked 8,245 passing yards and 65 touchdowns under his collegiate belt. Add in a more veteran line, sprinkled with very promising youth, a pair of backs who could be the next terrific U-M tan- dem and a wideout corps enhanced by the transfer portal. Will it be enough? That's the story of the season. The Wolverines' defense should again do its job. It says here Michigan opponents will score fewer points than they did last year, despite an NFL talent drain. Again, the questions arise on offense. It's never a bad move to turn to Jon Jan- sen for answers. The former two-time Michigan captain, national champion, All-American and NFL stalwart spends his working days inside Schembechler Hall, sees practices and knows the Wolverines inside and out. He's not afraid to be blunt, even as ana- lyst on Michigan football radio broadcasts. He's not ruling out a U-M run toward the Big Ten championship and the College Football Playoff. He took on the big question: Can this team win big with a freshman quarterback? "The short answer is yes," Jansen in- sisted. "They certainly won't be the favor- ite to win a Big Ten championship. But they don't play Penn State in the regular season, and I'm guessing Penn State will be the fa- vorite, going in. They will play Ohio State, but the way this schedule sets up, they'll be tested early in a nonconference game against Oklahoma. If it is Underwood un- der center, you're going to gain some valu- able experience. "They come back against Central Michigan, and you'll have an opportunity to make some adjustments and improve- ments. Throughout the course of the year, there will be tests — going to Lincoln, go- ing to USC, Wisconsin at home. If you lose to Oklahoma, it's not going to affect you in the Big Ten at all. It could have some ramifications for making the Col- lege Football Playoff, but it won't affect your standing in the Big Ten. The sched- ule allows for this team to get better, like we saw when J.J. [McCarthy] was [first] the starting quarterback [in 2022]. It al- lowed for the offense to find its way, while the defense kept them in games or won games. "I believe this schedule sets up the same way. You've got a freshman quarterback. There are going to be some bumps in the road. As he gets better, more experienced, more comfortable, the schedule will pro- gressively get a little bit tougher. You're allowed to make some mistakes early and not make those mistakes against the bet- ter opponents." Jansen argues the biggest question re- mains on the offensive line. But he's con- vinced if true freshman Andrew Babalola can hold down left tackle, allowing junior Evan Link to move inside, the Wolverines could take a big step forward. He likes the progress in other areas, and he's sold on Lindsey. "Nobody was happy with the offense," Jansen acknowledged. "One of the hard- est things to do as a coach that has risen through the ranks and is tabbed as the head coach — and all those other guys have been in meetings with you, they've spent long hours in the building with you — [is when] you've got to make a tough decision to move on from one of your friends, one of your coaches that you hired, that you promoted, that you put in place. "That's tough. But that's what leaders do. They've got to assess what happened, why it happened, what are the shortcom- ings, how can you improve? That was a major move, bringing in Chip Lindsey." Will it all be enough? A defiant crew of Wolverines insists, watch and see. ❏ WOLVERINE WATCH JOHN BORTON Michigan's Hope: Going On The Offensive Senior writer John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @JB_Wolverine. Head coach Sherrone Moore brought in a new offensive coordinator, Chip Lindsey (above), with a goal of improving on the 22 points per game the Wolverines scored last season, which ranked 113th nationally. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL