What they're saying before Michigan football takes on Central Michigan

Michigan Wolverines football will play Central Michigan Saturday afternoon at The Big House. Here’s a look around the internet at what they’re saying before kickoff.

Max Olson, ESPN.com: College football 2025: 10 early-impact transfers

6. Justice Haynes, RB, Michigan
[Junior Justice] Haynes, a former top-25 recruit, spent two seasons at Alabama and couldn’t quite break through as a featured back while sharing carries with Jam Miller and others in a run game that was heavily dependent on quarterback Jalen Milroe. In fact, he earned double-digit carries in only one of his 25 career games with the Crimson Tide.

He’s off to an explosive start through two games at Michigan, rushing for 284 yards and four touchdowns on 8.1 yards per carry. In his season debut, he put up a career-high 159 rushing yards and three touchdowns against New Mexico in a performance that Michigan coach Sherrone Moore called “pretty electric.”

Haynes followed that up with a career-best 19 carries against Oklahoma and burned the Sooners with a 75-yard breakaway run on the first play of the second half.

Haynes is now the fourth-leading rusher in FBS, and he’s leading all backs with three carries of 50 or more yards on the season.

Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News: Wojo’s Pigskin Picks: Wolverines, Spartans eager to gauge and gouge

If you don’t see Sherrone Moore on the Michigan sideline Saturday, do not be alarmed. He might have stayed behind in Oklahoma to visit old college chums. He may be on a two-week recruiting binge to find offensive linemen.

Or who knows, he might be on the Central Michigan sideline wearing sunglasses and a cap pulled low, looking completely inconspicuous. That would be the only appropriate twist in the ongoing drama “CSI: Michigan,” the Connor Stalions Investigation.

I promise, we’re almost done discussing Mr. Stalions, unless he shows up on UM’s sideline in a Sherrone Moore disguise. Moore’s two-game suspension (plus one more in 2026 for fun) is part of the NCAA’s punishment for Stalions’ clever and comical scheme to collect snapshots of coaching signs and figure out what they mean. Moore can’t have any contact with his team starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, all the way until midnight the following Saturday after the Wolverines play at Nebraska.

Barricades and infrared sensors will prevent improper access to Schembechler Hall, according to my imaginary sources, and the school cannot, under any circumstances, sell a game ticket to Moore. Concurrently, NCAA officials plan to raid Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles villa.

UM’s interim will be associate head coach Biff Poggi, who’s famous for cutting the arms off his sweatshirts while coaching at Charlotte. The NCAA approved the look to ensure UM didn’t have any more tricks up its sleeves. Poggi also was one of Harbaugh’s “trusted agents and known friends,” so the NCAA is not allowing him to wear a headset.

Austin Meek, The Athletic: Sherrone Moore won’t coach Michigan’s next two games. How will they handle his absence?

In Michigan’s ideal world, Moore would be stepping away from a 2-0 team buoyed with confidence from a win at Oklahoma. Instead, he’ll be stepping away from a team that’s still trying to find its identity.

The Oklahoma game was a marquee matchup with personal significance for Moore, but the Nebraska game is arguably more important in the big picture of Michigan’s season. Nebraska plays Houston Christian this week and is almost guaranteed to be 3-0 when Michigan visits. The Wolverines have a lot to correct this week against Central Michigan, and they’ll have to do it without their head coach on the sideline.

If any team knows how to prepare for a situation like this, it’s Michigan. The Wolverines were 6-0 with fill-in head coaches in 2023, with Moore stepping in for four of those games. Players who were part of that season learned to focus on what’s happening on the field, not on who is or isn’t on the sideline.

“We’ve got a lot of great leaders on this team who will be able to take over part of that role,” tight end Max Bredeson said. “I’ve never taken a snap with Coach Moore. We’ll be ready to roll and have 11 guys out there ready to play.”

Scott Dochterman, The Athletic: In the Big Ten’s early QB hierarchy, the familiar faces are outshining the new arrivals

[Freshman] Bryce Underwood, Michigan: A decent debut against New Mexico gave way to a tough night at Oklahoma. Underwood has just one touchdown and is completing 54.5 percent of his passes, but two games are way too early to judge him against his preseason hype. He has limitless talent. At some point this season, it will pop.

Aaron McMann, MLive: Michigan vs. Central Michigan score predictions from MLive’s beat writers

If there was ever a game for Michigan to get back on track, this is it. Central Michigan has a new coach, new scheme and three quarterbacks who don’t do much particularly well. The Chippewas are going to try and scrap and claw for every yard on the ground, hoping to bleed the clock and shrink the game.

As long as the Wolverines tackle well, they should be. Offensively, I’m expecting a big day for Bryce Underwood and the running backs, who need a bounce-back game after the lackluster performance at Oklahoma. It wouldn’t surprise me if CMU can’t reach the end zone, and the kicker doesn’t have a strong leg, either. Prediction: Michigan 34, CMU 0.

Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press: Michigan football prediction vs CMU in Week 3: Time to unleash Bryce Underwood

Central Michigan tried three quarterbacks last week at Pittsburgh (45-17 loss) and combined for decent stats (20 of 27 for 177 yards and one touchdown). But the Chippewas could not run the ball, taking 41 carries for a combined 40 yards. With an offense like that, U-M’s defense will pin its ears back and the Chippewas will have trouble moving it all afternoon. That will set up solid field positions for the Wolverines, who will be more aggressive on offense than they were in the first two weeks. Expect Bryce Underwood’s first multiple-touchdown game, despite Michigan playing without coach Sherrone Moore, serving the first of a two-game suspension. It won’t matter. The pick: Michigan 38, CMU 10