The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW MICHIGAN FOOTBALL National Champion: CFP Top Four: Big Ten Championship Game: Michigan Regular-Season Record: Does Michigan Make The CFP?: Most Anticipated U-M Game: Big Ten Team On The Rise: Big Ten Team On The Decline: Offensive Breakout Player: Defensive Breakout Player: Michigan MVP: National Champion: CFP Top Four: Big Ten Championship Game: Michigan Regular-Season Record: Does Michigan Make The CFP?: Most Anticipated U-M Game: Big Ten Team On The Rise: Big Ten Team On The Decline: Offensive Breakout Player: Defensive Breakout Player: Michigan MVP: They Said It "Ohio State loses to Michigan … again. The Buckeyes are national champions. Last year's team was elite, and this year's could be just as good. There's no reason to be anything but joyous in Columbus. Only … the fine folks from that state up north do have something of a trump card. Michigan's four straight wins over Ohio State make for some pretty good bragging rights, even if the playoff trophy resides at the Horseshoe. Last year's astonish- ing Buckeyes loss might've cost Ryan Day his job had the playoff not expanded to 12 and given Ohio State a second bite at the apple. And so, when this year's game comes around on Nov. 29, the buzz won't be about Ohio State's 2025 championship game win. It will be about the four straight losses, and that's an awfully big monkey now living on Day's back. So, we won't be too shocked if that dark cloud looms so large that the Buckeyes stumble yet again thanks to all of the outside noise. Would the Ohio State faithful be OK with a fifth straight loss to Michigan if it was followed by a second straight national title?" — David Hale, ESPN.com "Now here's why I believe in Michigan. Last year, they beat USC, they beat Ohio State, they beat Alabama. And in those games, you know what? Their offense did virtually noth- ing, virtually nothing. And specifically in that game against Alabama, remember all the guys that were going to the draft weren't playing in that game. So, they stopped Jalen Milroe and Alabama basically with the group of guys that are going to be playing this year. Wink Martindale figured it out. I thought early in the year there were growing pains with him coming back to college. He had to dumb it down. He's too smart. "Wink Martindale is too smart of a defensive coordinator, and they, at times, were doing a little too much. They simplified a little bit. He learned the college game a little bit more, the tendencies of it, and that defense took off in the second half of the year. Because of that, that's going to allow their offense to get its footing. Now, if the offense is good, this is a top-10 team, and so that's when we get into like, what could they possibly be? Is it Bryce Underwood? Is it Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene there to bridge whatever gap there might be? … I know they have to replace Ma- son Graham, I know they have to replace Ken- neth Grant, I know they have to replace Will Johnson, but that defense, even without those players, largely stopped Alabama in that bowl game when they got that win." — Joel Klatt, FOX Sports "Probably too much hype around Bryce Un- derwood and it sounds like a slight, I promise you it's not. He's gonna be really good even- tually. When is he really good? Is it this year? It could be, but I think the thought that this guy's gonna be the savior of Michigan foot- ball tomorrow and lead you to the national championship, and he's gonna win the Heis- man Trophy, be a first-team All-American … those things all may eventually happen in Ann Arbor. But can we just let it bake for a second? Can we give it a little bit of runway? Can we let him start a couple of games before we say Bryce Underwood, you're the reason why Michigan football is gonna go win the national title in 2025? "I have been very, very vocal. I don't think it's crazy to assume that Bryce Underwood could potentially play at an all-conference kind of level for you. That could be anything from hon- orable mention to … I guess you could talk me into him being a guy that competes for a first-team All-Big Ten kind of situation. But the reason why this is a conversation is because he has all the things that you quite frankly just can't teach or coach. The dude is 6-4, 220-plus, runs a 4.6, 4.5 [40-yard dash], whatever he runs now at Michigan. That kind of athleticism and size, and then the rocket for an arm, you can't teach any of those things. "What you saw at Michigan last year was a severe lack of those things. We saw the games last year, and so you pair that with what they did on the field and still were successful in spite of that quarterback room. And then you pair the tools and you get pretty excited." — J.D. PicKell, On3 STAFF PREDICTIONS CHRIS BALAS, TheWolverine.com Editor Texas Texas, Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame Ohio State over Penn State 9-3 No Ohio State Nebraska Michigan State RB Jordan Marshall EDGE TJ Guy RB Jordan Marshall JOHN BORTON, Senior Writer Georgia Georgia, Clemson, Penn State, Texas Michigan over Penn State 10-2 Yes Ohio State Penn State Michigan State RB Jordan Marshall S Mason Curtis RB Jordan Marshall ANTHONY BROOME, Staff Writer Penn State Penn State, Texas, Clemson, Alabama Penn State over Michigan 10-2 Yes Ohio State Washington Maryland RB Justice Haynes S Mason Curtis QB Bryce Underwood CLAYTON SAYFIE, Staff Writer LSU Clemson, LSU, Notre Dame, Penn State Penn State over Ohio State 10-2 Yes Ohio State Nebraska Indiana QB Bryce Underwood DB Brandyn Hillman DT Rayshaun Benny DREW HALLETT, Columnist Texas Texas, Clemson, Penn State, Notre Dame Penn State over Ohio State 9-3 Yes Ohio State UCLA Indiana RB Jordan Marshall DB Brandyn Hillman QB Bryce Underwood DOUG SKENE* Georgia Georgia, Texas, Penn State, Oregon Penn State over Oregon 8-4 No Ohio State Indiana USC OT Andrew Sprague EDGE Derrick Moore EDGE Derrick Moore * Former U-M All-Big Ten offensive lineman and contributor to TheWolverine.com