Offense notes: Drops and short-yardage woes hold Michigan back, but two wideouts break out in win over Wisconsin

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football put up 445 yards of offense but only 24 points to Wisconsin’s 10 in Saturday’s game at The Big House, with red-zone and short-yardage issues turning what could’ve been a lopsided win into just a very convincing one.

The Wolverines played efficient early-down offense to average only 4.7 yards to go on third down, but Michigan went 3-of-7 on third-and-short (1-4 yards to go). They also turned it over on downs, with freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood dropping the snap and falling on it short of the line to gain on fourth-and-2 early in the final quarter.

“You go back and watch [the short-yardage plays that didn’t work] … footwork,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said. “It’s not the calls. It’s footwork, hat placement, the things that you harp on, the little pieces that could make a play successful or unsuccessful, those are really the things.

“It’s not the call. It’s those pieces, and we’ll get those cleaned up and fixed because you look at the week before we got those things done. We got those done and maybe weren’t in as many of those situations, but those are the things you’ve got to do to get where you want to be.

“So, we’ve got to continue to harp on the little things, the little things. This has been about the how. It has been about the what … it’s been about the how. How we do it, how we execute plays. So, we’ll continue to harp on it as a unit.”

There were points left out on the field, Moore admitted, including with the Wolverines stalling out in the red zone and missing a chip-shot field goal.

“There’s got to be things you’ve got to clean up, but you look at our total offense, we had 445 yards of total offense,” Moore explained. “When you have those days, you’re usually pretty good.

“If we score in the red zone twice, it’s a completely different look of the win, right? And, you won the game, so you’re extremely happy about that.

“You rushed for 175 yards, which is pretty good in the Big 10, but our standard is a certain way, so we’re going to attack what we need to attack to clean everything up and challenge guys that need to be challenged and go from there.”

The Wolverines also had dropped passes that were drive killers. Graduate tight end / fullback Max Bredeson couldn’t haul one in on third down that would’ve moved the chains. Junior wideouts Semaj Morgan and Kendrick Bell also had costly drops.

“I would say really just us as a group, we know our standard, and just moving forward, even during the week, it was something we worked on, just knowing we can’t have drops like that,” freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh said. “We really just have to do better as a whole.”

Andrew Marsh, Donaven McCulley break out

Marsh didn’t have any drops himself, and showed out during his first career start after coming off the bench in each of the first four games. The 6-foot-0, 190-pound Texas native hauled in 4 passes for 80 yards, picking up 3 first downs. He started in replacement of sophomore Channing Goodwin, who played very few snaps as a reserve.

“He’s continued to learn the playbook, learn what he’s supposed to do, but he’s just continued to make plays,” the Michigan coach said of his freshman. “We had that opportunity week and he was a guy that just kept standing out. He kept making plays, he kept making plays, and when a guy keeps making plays, it’s only fair to give him the opportunity, and he did that. So, he earned it, and he’s going to continue to earn it.”

Graduate wide receiver Donaven McCulley has been targeted the most among Michigan pass catchers throughout the season but had his biggest performance Saturday, recording 6 grabs for 112 yards and a score on 7 targets.

McCulley came alive in the second half, accumulating 91 yards in the final two quarters. He scored his first career touchdown as a Wolverine on a slant route that he turned back to the outside after hauling in the catch, going 29 yards to pay dirt to put the Maize and Blue up 17-7.

“I was just hungry for the touchdown,” McCulley said. “That’s just the type of player I am. I want to get in that end zone.”

Moore is confident Michigan can create more opportunities for McCulley and Marsh moving forward.

“So, we’ll continue to emphasize that and put him in position to do that along with Andrew Marsh and those guys,” Moore said of McCulley, the Indiana transfer. “Both of those guys had their best games they had the best games with the Wolverines and they’re really proud of their performance.”

Justice Haynes over 100 yards again

Junior running back Justice Haynes was already the first Michigan player to amass 100-plus rushing yards in each of his first four games, and extended his steak with 117 in his fifth, punching in 2 touchdowns. He’s up to 654 yards and 8 scores on 85 carries, averaging 7.7 yards per pop.

“I pride myself on being disciplined, staying consistent each and every day in all aspects of my life, not just football,” Haynes said. “So, when you do that and you consistently stay the course, God always rewards it.”

Michigan’s offense produced 270 yards through the air and 175 on the ground. Wisconsin hadn’t allowed more than 72 rushing yards all season and entered Saturday No. 1 in the country by giving up just 50 per game.

“I mean, we talked about it briefly, but at the end of the day, we just know we’ve got to play our game each and every Saturday,” Haynes. “We just have to come out and just be us, and we’ll be just fine, no matter who we go against.”

Underwood, meanwhile, completed 19 of his 28 passes (68 percent) for a career-best 270 yards and a touchdown. He said after the game that he believes the offense is getting better by the week.

“I feel like we’re peaking at the right time,” the Detroit native proclaimed.

Miscellaneous Michigan football offense notes

• McCulley’s 112 receiving yards are the second-most he’s had in a game during his career, behind only one of his tilts as an Indiana Hoosier: at Illinois Nov. 11, 2023 (137).

• Morgan’s 44 receiving yards are the third-most he’s had in a game in his career. The only higher totals came against CMU earlier this season (69) and in a loss to Texas in 2024 (45).

• Michigan allowed 1 sack — 1 of only 3 negative plays on the afternoon. The Wolverines didn’t turn the ball over for the second time this season. They currently are winning the turnover battle over their opponents by a margin of 9-3.

• Wisconsin averaged giving up only 50 rushing yards per game, and Haynes had 54 on Michigan’s lone drive, scoring a touchdown to answer Wisconsin’s opening-possession score.

• Entering the game, Wisconsin’s longest rush allowed was 19 yards. Haynes recorded a 43-yard run in the first quarter — the longest allowed by the Badgers since a 58-yard Nebraska rush on Nov. 18, 2023. Haynes added a 23-yard run late in the third quarter.

• Haynes is the first running back to record a 20-plus-yard rush against Wisconsin this season and notched his fifth consecutive 100-yard rushing performance, the longest by a Wolverine since Blake Corum (eight games) in 2022.

• The Michigan offense has produced 26 plays of 20-plus yards through five weeks of the 2025 season, including five in today’s contest.