The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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66 THE WOLVERINE ❱ NOVEMBER 2025 I n most college football seasons, coaches and fan bases have somewhat of a handle on what their teams are after seven games. Former Ohio State coach John Coo- per, in fact, once advocated for waiting to rank teams until the sixth game of the season, arguing that anything before that was a fool's errand given the discrepancy in schedule strength, teams still figuring out their strengths and weak- nesses, etc. But there are always outli- ers, and this season — and this Michigan team — appears to be one of them. At 5-2 after seven games, the Wolverines seem to be right where many might have pegged them, including us. We predicted one win out of games at Oklahoma, Nebraska and USC, hoped for two (this just in — we're not completely "unbiased journalists" here), figured Nebraska might be the one, and expected the Wolverines to win five straight after a loss to the Trojans to keep slim playoff hopes alive. What we didn't expect — that this team would be relatively noncompeti- tive in losses at Oklahoma and USC, and that Washington would loom as large as it did. The Huskies had improved behind dynamic quarterback Demond Wil- liams Jr., boasted a highly credentialed offensive head coach in Jedd Fisch, and liked to do a lot of what the Trojans did in putting up 489 yards, including 224 on the ground, on the Michigan defense in a 31-13 win Oct. 11. To their credit, and after an admit- tedly tumultuous week in Schembechler Hall that included a lot of soul search- ing, the Wolverines handled Washing- ton, 24-7, to keep hope alive. "Our players, we talked after the game at USC about just being all in and trust- ing each other, trusting the process, and we had some tough conversations throughout the week — offensively, defensively — of what we need to do and how we need to adjust, and how we need to play better," head coach Sher- rone Moore said. "And the response by our coaches, our offensive coordinator, our defensive coordinator, our offensive staff, defensive staff was outstanding. "But more importantly, our players … our players played with their hair on fire. They played with detail, played with great fundamentals. I'm just really proud of our kids, man." Because let's be honest here — this could have gone either way. As Moore noted, all you had to do was look around the country to see how teams responded to losses in much worse ways. Penn State's home loss to Northwestern, its third in a row, forced out coach James Franklin after his team was ranked No. 2 in the preseason. Clemson, preseason No. 4, stands 3-4 through seven games, its latest setback a 35-24 home loss to SMU. So, credit the Wolverines for bouncing back and not falling off the proverbial cliff. Still, we'd feel much better about the possibility of winning out and beat- ing Ohio State had they been more com- petitive in losses at Oklahoma and USC, games in which they frankly looked over- whelmed. At the same time, the Nov. 29 showdown is at home, and there's plenty of time for the Big Ten's youngest team to improve before then. Also, while OSU seems bet- ter constructed to win a game in a style Michigan wants to play, we all know how coach Ryan Day and his teams tend to pee down their legs at the sight of the winged helmets. What nobody should do, though, is assume managing one big hurdle means you're in the clear. "Let's call it what it is," for- mer Michigan All-American Jon Jansen, now the color com- mentator for radio broadcasts, noted. "Every game [after USC] is a playoff game now, right? If you want to have a shot [at the playoff] at the end of the year, you have to win every game." If it were last year's or next year's schedules, we'd probably bet against it, even with this improved team. This group still has a lot to prove on the road, and while winning at Nebraska was nice, the Cornhuskers showed who they were in laying an egg at Minnesota, allowing 9 sacks in a 24-6 loss. We expect the Wolverines to win at Michigan State, versus Purdue, against Northwestern at Wrigley Field and at Maryland, but honestly, only a loss to the Boilermakers would be a complete shocker. The second half versus Washington provided hope, though, that this team is headed in the right direction. The de- fense played much more connected, and frosh quarterback Bryce Underwood continued his ascent. We can't shake the feeling there will be some hand wringing on the way. Get to Nov. 29 with everything still on the table, though, and we're telling you there's a chance. ❏ "We had some tough conversations throughout the week," head coach Sherrone Moore said in reference to the loss at USC. His Wolverines responded with a gritty, 24-7 win against Washington the following week. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Chris Balas has been with The Wolverine since 1997. Contact him at cbalas@ thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @Balas _ Wolverine. INSIDE MICHIGAN ❱ CHRIS BALAS One Down, Four To Go