Sherrone Moore quick-hitters: Questionable timeout call, Michigan punt returner change, more updates

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football head coach Sherrone Moore held his Maryland week press conference Monday morning. Here are bullet points with the most notable things he said.

Sherrone Moore quick-hitters

• Michigan sophomore running back Jordan Marshall is “day to day” with a shoulder injury. The X-rays at the game came back negative, and Moore said he “feels good, but we’ll see” about his status for the Maryland game. Moore is “pretty confident” that he will at least return for the clash against Ohio State to cap off the regular season.

• FOX play-by-play commentator Gus Johnson reported Saturday during the broadcast that junior running back Justice Haynes is out for the season. Moore said he would not put Haynes in that category, though he will “probably” miss the rest of the regular season.

• Junior tight end Zack Marshall was banged up in the Northwestern game, but Moore said he should be good to go for Maryland.

• Junior running back Bryson Kuzdzal is faster than Marshall and has similar burst to Haynes, per Moore. Moore is very comfortable with Kuzdzal in the backfield if Michigan is without Marshall.

• Moore noted that Michigan has “all of our goals in front of us” with an 8-2 record, and that playing “meaningful football” in November is what coaches and players ask for. He said it’s especially good because the Wolverines are a young team. The Wolverines have to “self reflect” and make sure they’re improving, but he’s happy with where the season is going.

• Michigan has to “clean up” the turnovers, after committing 5 against Northwestern, but Moore was impressed his team was able to win despite those mistakes. He noted that last season, SMU won with 6 turnovers, but “that was it,” highlighting how rare it is. The SMU win was Oct. 26, 2024, a 28-27 win over Duke, which didn’t turn the ball over at all.

• Moore said freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood “just saw it really well” when asked if Michigan came into the Northwestern game with the intention of using him in the passing game more. But he added that Northwestern’s defense did allow the Wolverines to take advantage of some opportunities through the air.

• Underwood is “getting used to the speed” in the Big Ten, which has helped him get comfortable in the pocket, and he “watches film tirelessly.” Northwestern blitzed more than Michigan thought it would, in an attempt to stop the run, and the Wolverines have a lot to clean up in pass protection.

• The first interception by Underwood, the quarterback “moved off his first read” too quickly. On the second one, it was a “heat check,” where he had hit similar passes earlier in the game and wanted to go back to it. Moore noted that Underwood should’ve handed the ball off.

• Michigan senior kicker Dominic Zvada, who kicked the game-winning field goal to beat Northwestern, has earned “trust” because of what the staff has seen him do in practice. The first miss was from close up, but the second was a 60-yarder, and Moore saw him make one of those in warmups. Before the game-winner, Moore looked in Zvada’s eyes, and the kicker gave him a nod back. Moore knew at that moment he would make the kick, and he delivered.

• Michigan vs. Maryland is “not a trap game” for the Wolverines, and Moore was adamant about that, saying it multiple times. “If you don’t play well, you will get beat,” he said. “Everyone knows what’s ahead, but we have to prepare for this like our lives depend on it.” He said he didn’t want to talk about Ohio State.

• Michigan freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh will “probably” remain the Wolverines’ punt returner. Though he’s struggled, Moore is trying to instill positivity with junior Semaj Morgan, who’s had a tough season and fumbled on a punt return last game. Moore said that Morgan should’ve just gotten down, cutting his losses, instead of trying to fight for extra yardage.

• Moore is “very proud” of Michigan’s offensive line, which is one of 10 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, handed to the nation’s most outstanding offensive line unit. He said he’s “proud” of assistant Grant Newsome and the O-line staff. He said the “fight” and “physicality” stand out, though the group has not been “perfect.” Moore pointed out how well the line has done with three redshirt freshmen starting the last three games, noting that the Wolverines have rushed for 200-plus yards in each.

• Here’s Moore’s explanation for calling a timeout with 56 seconds remaining against Northwestern, which could’ve given the Wildcats a chance to get the ball back with some time on the clock: “Just want the best runs possible, the best thought process possible. You don’t want to rush in when you have a timeout and you call one and you’ve still got one left, you know you’ve got control of what you want, control of the clock, so you know you can bleed it down to a certain point. So, we wanted to make sure we were in the best possible run, that we knew we could execute and get the yards and get the ball to where we wanted to, because I think we were on the right hash still, maybe, and we wanted to get the ball over.”