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Best and worst from U-M's win over Wisconsin

michigan-icon-fullby: The Wolverine Staff10/05/25thewolverineon3

By Clayton Sayfie

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football beat up on Wisconsin, winning 24-10 Saturday at The Big House. Here are the best and worst from the game.

Warmest welcome back

Michigan graduate safety Rod Moore came back to play against Nebraska in the last game but hadn’t seen action at The Big House in 679 days — when he ‘called game’ with his sealing interception to beat Ohio State, 30-24, and keep a perfect 2023 campaign alive.

Moore was all over the field against Wisconsin, nearly nabbing a pick-six on a throw-back screen in the first quarter and getting a huge tackle on a reverse in the second stanza.

It was Rod Moore doing Rod Moore things. Then came the big play. A single-high safety, Moore ranged over to his left on a deep pass down the sideline and picked it off — classic Rod.

Moore was mobbed by his teammates in one of the better feel-good moments in recent Michigan history, considering the grueling recovery he went through to get back to this point.

Best streak

Michigan junior running back Justice Haynes is one of the most productive players in the nation and continued his incredible streak. He was already the first Wolverine to have 100-plus rushing yards in his first four games in a winged helmet and extended that to five with 117 yards and 2 scores in this one.

Haynes has rushed 66 times for 537 yards and 6 touchdowns this season, averaging 8.1 yards per attempt. He recorded a stellar 6.2 yards per carry against the Badgers — his season low!

Much-needed breakout

Michigan’s wide receiving corps was the No. 1 concern heading into the bye week, the Wolverines needing playmakers to step up on the outside. Graduate Donaven McCulley — who wears the iconic No. 1 jersey — was that guy Saturday, and perhaps it’s a sign of things to come. Keep feeding him.

McCulley posted 6 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, and also drew a pass interference call that advanced the Wolverines 15 yards on the first drive, which resulted in a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Indiana transfer had made some plays in the first four games but didn’t have an explosion like this. The Wisconsin secondary is one of the worst in the Big Ten, but this performance is still something to build on.

McCulley grabbed jump balls and reversed fields after catching a slant, making a play with the ball in his hands to find the end zone. Those are things the Wolverines have needed from that position group.

Freshman breakthrough

The Wolverines ramped up the competition in the wide receiver room during the bye week, and freshman Andrew Marsh made a lot of plays during practice. He earned his first career start — replacing sophomore Channing Goodwin — and made the most of it. Expect to see more Marsh going forward.

The 6-foot-0, 190-pounder hauled in 4 catches for 80 yards, with a 32-yard long on a perfectly placed deep ball by freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood.

Worst ongoing trend

Michigan’s receivers can’t stop dropping the football. There were 11 in the first four games, according to PFF, and 3 more in this one, with graduate tight end / fullback Max Bredeson (on a third down), sophomore wide receiver Kendrick Bell and junior wide receiver Semaj Morgan being the culprits.

They were all costly and forced the Wolverines to either punt (Bredeson’s) or lose momentum and fail to establish a rhythm.

Michigan players laughed in the postgame press conference when they were asked about the velocity on Underwood’s passes — he zips the ball — but they have to adjust. There are times when he has to fire it into tight windows, and telling him to tamp down the force isn’t the right call.

Career best

Underwood completed 19 of his 28 passes, and with the three drops he would’ve had a much higher completion percentage than his 68-percent number. He also would’ve had more yardage, too, but still recorded a career-high 270 yards with the scoring pass to McCulley. This was by far Underwood’s best performance through the air against a Power Four team.

The 6-foot-4, 228-pounder also rushed 5 times for 12 yards with a 7-yard long.

Best response

Wisconsin came out with a quarterback in third-stringer Hunter Simmons that Michigan didn’t prepare to face, and went down the field 75 yards for a touchdown on a scripted drive. Nobody expected that.

The Wolverines’ offense tied the game five plays later, though, and the defense settled in. Players said it wasn’t any specific adjustment other than them coming together to say their standard wasn’t met on the first possession and to tackle better. What a turnaround it was.

Wisconsin didn’t score again until its final possession, but took 6:41 on the drive when it needed to go fast. Here are the possessions following the initial touchdown:

Punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, interception, punt. There were five three-and-outs in what was a dominant response.

Wisconsin finished the day with 252 yards. After picking up 3 third-down conversions on the first drive, the Badgers missed out on their next 9 attempts.

Tackling machine

Linebacker has been one of Michigan’s top position groups all season, and senior Jimmy Rolder has seen his role grow seemingly by the week. He was all over the field Saturday, posting 7 tackles, including 5 solo, with a quarterback hurry.

Another defensive performance that stood out came from junior safety Brandyn Hillman, ‘The Hitman.’ He stuffed a third-down run with a huge hit and laid the boom multiple times throughout. He finished with 3 tackles, including 1 for loss.

Worst area

Michigan’s short-yardage offense was a big issue Saturday. The Wolverines went 3-of-6 in those situations, and there were a number of different reasons for the woes.

• Haynes barely didn’t pick up the first down on third-and-1, after review overturned the initial spot.

• Marshall picked up only 1 yard on second-and-2. On the next play, Bredeson dropped a pass that would’ve moved the chains.

• On fourth-and-2 early in the fourth quarter, there was a low-ish snap that Underwood dropped and fell on short of the sticks. Two plays before, Morgan went out of bounds instead of fighting to get to the marker. On third down, the Wolverines threw a pass to seldom-used junior tight end Jalen Hoffman that fell incomplete. It was questionable that they passed on third-and-2, passed and then chose to go for it on fourth instead of kick a field goal.

There were some successes, though, with Haynes scoring 2 touchdowns from a yard out and Marshall picking up a first down on third-and-1.

Growing concern

It’s not time to panic, but senior kicker Dominic Zvada isn’t having anywhere near the season he did a season ago. This time, however, a low snap may have been the issue on his missed 27-yard field goal, his third miss of the season. He missed only one a year ago.

Again, don’t hit the panic button, but there’s less confidence in Zvada right now than there was at any point a year ago.

He did knock in a 40-yarder that was crucial.

Most misleading stat

Wisconsin entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in rushing yards allowed per game (50), and that was a bit of motivation for the Wolverines, who pride themselves on pounding the rock.

Michigan gained 54 yards — all from Haynes — on the first possession and amassed 175 for the game.

The Badgers hadn’t played a rush offense that ranked better than 96th nationally, so the stat was misleading. Michigan had some success, but there was still some resistance. It’s a good defensive front, but nothing the Wolverines couldn’t handle.

Trouble area

Honestly, the biggest area that Michigan had issues with up front on offense was pass protection. Wisconsin generated pressure on some key downs, and Michigan’s tackles didn’t do their jobs in pass protection.

Junior left tackle Evan Link allowed the sack on a second-and-5 for a loss of 4 yards, and then Underwood missed Morgan high on third down, ending a drive.

On the following possession, sophomore right tackle Andrew Sprague gave up pressure on third-and-8, forcing Underwood to scramble and not get the first. Michigan punted.

The Wolverine offense just didn’t have much of a flow for the majority of the afternoon.

Best special teams play

Hello, Troy Bowles!

The junior linebacker blocked a punt in the second quarter, Michigan’s first deflected punt since the Minnesota game Sept. 28, 2024.

The punt from Atticus Bertrams went only 32 yards — Bowles didn’t get it clean — and allowed Michigan to start at its own 34-yard line. The possession ended in a field goal.