The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 19 ❱ MICHIGAN FOOTBALL QUARTERBACK JAKE GARCIA PROVING TO BE A NICE ADDITION Michigan got caught without depth at the quarterback position last year, and some would argue that alone pre- vented the Wolverines from breaking the eight-win barrier. Head coach Sher- rone Moore landed freshman Bryce Un- derwood, expected to start from Day 1, and brought in Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene, as well — two more than capable signal-callers — to make sure it didn't happen again. To add insurance, the Wolverines added Jake Garcia, a 6-3, 203-pound former top-100 recruit in the 2021 class, as a transfer from East Carolina. He spent two seasons at Miami (2021-22), one at Missouri (2023), and one at East Carolina (2024) before ending up at Michigan. With Keene sidelined this spring due to injury, Garcia's addition might be a bigger necessity than originally thought. He's impressed his teammates this summer with his big arm during informal workouts. "He's a super-talented guy who brings a lot of experience that we need," veteran tight end Marlin Klein said. "I think that's going to help Bryce's devel- opment, as well, because if you've been at three or four schools and different conferences, you've kind of seen it all. I'm just super excited, and I think he's a valuable guy." "He brings a different type of leader- ship at that position," receiver Donaven McCulley added. "Some of the guys are young, and I feel like Bryce and JD [sophomore Jadyn Davis] can learn from Jake and Mikey, as well. He brings that dynamic that real leaders should bring. "He's coming into a new school, try- ing to figure out the ropes and stuff like that, and really just win over the team." Garcia's arm strength has stood out throughout his career, and McCulley has seen the talent even in limited time working with him. "He definitely has a good arm," the 6-foot-5 wideout said. "We haven't re- ally seen him too much — we've only been working out a couple times — but he's definitely very talented." Garcia has appeared in 15 games with seven starts during his college football career. He's completed 188 of his 310 passes (60.6 percent) for 2,376 yards and 15 touchdowns with 16 intercep- tions, while logging 40 rush attempts for 46 yards and 2 scores. Heading into the 2024 season at East Carolina, Garcia beat out Michi- gan State transfer Katin Houser for the starting job. He opened the first six games before being benched, and Houser took over. That season, Garcia connected on 60.2 percent of his passes (109 of 181) for 1,426 yards and 8 touch- downs with 12 interceptions. The Wolverines also have freshman Chase Herbstreit and last year's starter Davis Warren, the latter working on coming back from a torn ACL suffered in the ReliaQuest Bowl win over Ala- bama. Heading into mid-July, though, Underwood and Garcia appeared to be the two best options to take reps in fall camp. BIG TEN'S TONY PETITTI REPORTEDLY ADVOCATED FOR U-M Michigan went in front of the NCAA's Committee on Infractions in June to de- fend itself in the sign stealing saga in- volving former Connor Stalions. The Wolverines reportedly got help from a source many fans believed was an ad- versary in 2023 —Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti. Per reports from ESPN, Petitti has sent a letter to the NCAA Committee on In- fractions arguing that Michigan deserves no further punishment in a case focusing on the actions of former staffer Stalions. The letter was read at the hearing in In- dianapolis, one Petitti would have re- portedly attended had he not been re- covering from hip replacement surgery. Petitti was at the forefront in sus- pending former U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh the last three games of the regular season in 2023, including the Penn State and Ohio State games. The Wolverines won them anyway, capturing a national title and a perfect 15-0 record. Petitti was booed loudly by Michigan fans during the Big Ten championship win following a 26-0 victory over Iowa. As ESPN reports, Petitti's Nov. 10, 2023 letter to Michigan athletics direc- tor Warde Manuel "laid out the Har- baugh suspension by arguing that 'the integrity of competition is the backbone of any sports conference or league.' He noted that 'taking immediate action is appropriate and necessary,' but Michi- gan disagreed and argued for due pro- cess and filed for a temporary restrain- ing order in Washtenaw County to allow Harbaugh to coach. There was no evi- dence, they argued, that Harbaugh had knowledge of Stalions' actions." But Petitti fought back and argued that the punishment was against the university, not Harbaugh. And when new evidence of wrongdoing was sup- posedly presented, Michigan backed down. The coach, of course, returned to lead the Wolverines to the title with wins over Alabama and Washington. Petitti also suggested that "additional disciplinary actions may be necessary or appropriate if [the NCAA or Big Ten] re- ceives additional information concerning the scope and knowledge of, or participa- tion in, the impermissible scheme." As ESPN noted, "that Petitti is now suggest- ing that Michigan has paid its penance suggests no such additional information has emerged." That appears to bode well for the Wolverines with the NCAA pun- ishment on tap. As reported several times, the NCAA's focus appears to be on head coach Sherrone Moore and suspending him for an allotment of games for deleting reportedly innocuous texts with Stalions. As previously reported, U-M brass has proposed suspending Moore for the Central Michigan (Sept. 13) and Nebraska (Sept. 20) games in addition to possible recruiting restrictions for Moore this year. Moore's attorneys had been work- ing on a resolution with the NCAA but couldn't find common ground before the meeting with the committee. ❑ 2025 U-M FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time (TV) Aug. 30 NEW MEXICO 7:30 p.m. (NBC) Sept. 6 at Oklahoma 7:30 p.m. (ABC) Sept. 13 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 12 p.m. (BTN) Sept. 20 at Nebraska 3:30 p.m. (CBS) Oct. 4 WISCONSIN 12 or 3:30 p.m. (TBA) Oct. 11 at USC TBA Oct. 18 WASHINGTON TBA Oct. 25 at Michigan State TBA Nov. 1 PURDUE TBA Nov. 15 vs. Northwestern* TBA Nov. 22 at Maryland TBA Nov. 29 OHIO STATE 12 p.m. (FOX) * at Wrigley Field in Chicago