There were several question marks surrounding Michigan entering the season, and its passing game was towards the top of the list. The Wolverines were coming off of a season in which they had the 131st-ranked passing attack in the country. In 2024, Michigan’s leading wide receiver was Tyler Morris, who caught for 248 yards.
Fast forward to 2025, through four games, Michigan has the 106th-ranked passing attack, averaging 183 yards per game. Bryce Underwood has shown glimpses of greatness, and it’s clear he is going to be the face of the program the next couple of seasons, but the wide receiver corps is still a work in progress.
The yards are there, Indiana transfer Donaven McCulley leads the team with 197 yards — almost where Morris was in the entire season last year. But drops are a glaring issue. Michigan has 11 drops as a team in four games, and both Semaj Morgan and Channing Goodwin lead the Big Ten Conference with four drops each.
On Monday, head coach Sherrone Moore spoke on the drops that are hindering the Wolverines’ offense.
“Yeah, I think it’s consistency, being a hands catcher,” Moore said on Monday. “We’re really harping on that. It’s a piece, it’s an emphasis this week on not allowing the ball to connect to your body. I think in coaching a lot, you hear it all the time, catch the ball, catch the ball. What does catch the ball mean?
“You’ve got to teach people how to catch the ball, whether it’s seeing the ball to the top, or whether it’s catching away from your body, whether it’s above your navel, catching it thumb to thumb, below, pinky to pinky. There’s all these key coaching points, so really harping on those things to make those plays we need to, because we can and we have. So that’s the goal. We’ve got to continue to do that this week.”
Goals for the bye week
Getting the pass catchers to catch the passes is one goal for Michigan. Getting Underwood not to throw so many fastballs might be another. But coach Moore talked about getting his players healthy and attacking the fundamentals as other goals for Michigan before it takes on Wisconsin in two weeks.
“Make sure the best players are playing on the field,” Moore said of the goals for this week. “Give guys opportunities to play, but they got to go earn it. So be more fundamental. Attack our fundamentals, attack our technique, attack the how, and keep everybody healthy and get guys back that are healthy. We’re going to do a good job with the plan of how we’re attacking the week, being smart with what we do in practice, so we make sure we get some guys back and get the guys that are playing their legs back. So that’s our game plan as we go next week.”
Trent began writing and covering Michigan athletics back in 2020. He became a credentialed member of the media in 2021. Trent began writing with Sports Illustrated in 2023 and became the Senior Writer for Michigan Wolverines On SI for the 2024 football season. Trent’s love of sports and being able to tell stories to fans is what made him get into writing.
Where Fox Sports has Michigan in Big Ten power rankings heading into conference play
Michigan running back Justice Haynes (22) runs for a touchdown against Central Michigan during the second half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesNo. 21 Michigan football (2-1) has completed its three out of conference games and is set for Big Ten play when it travels to Nebraska (3-0) to take on the Huskers on Saturday afternoon to open the conference season.
That means in a sense, Michigan can start with a clean slate as none of the previous games mattered as it relates to the conference standings. With many expecting the Wolverines to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff spot heading into the season and be a top four team in the conference, falling too much outside of the top four would likely be considered a disappointment compared to expectations coming in.
Heading into conference play, Fox Sports’ Michael Cohen listed off his power rankings for teams in the Big Ten and placed the Wolverines at No. 6, behind Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Illinois and Indiana (from 1-5 in order).
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) runs for a touchdown against Central Michigan defensive back Caleb Spann (15) during the first half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images“This was the kind of performance Michigan fans have always wanted to see from true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood,” Cohen wrote about the team’s performance from last weekend against CMU. Sure, Underwood had moments of brilliance with his arm in the season-opening win over New Mexico in which he threw for 251 yards and a touchdown. But fans and analysts alike were puzzled by his — or the coaching staff’s — apparent aversion to incorporating quarterback runs through the first two weeks, the kind of dual-threat plays that Oklahoma signal-caller John Mateer used to topple the Wolverines last Saturday on a night when Underwood only completed 37.5% of his passes.
Nebraska checked in at No. 7 just behind the Wolverines in Cohen’s rankings. The rest of the analyst’s rankings for teams in the Big Ten after Week 3 looks like this:
8. USC
9. Washington
10. Michigan State
11. Iowa
12. Minnesota
13. Maryland
14. Rutgers
15. Wisconsin
16. Purdue
17. Northwestern
18. UCLA
It’s fair to say that Michigan will need to get off to a quality start in Big Ten play and find a way to beat the Huskers on the road to avoid a situation where the team would have little margin for error moving forward if they start the year with a 2-2 record.
Michigan coach Sherrone Moore leaves the field after a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the University of Michigan Wolverines at Gaylord Family Ð Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. Oklahoma won 24-13. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
National analyst has bold take on Sherrone Moore, Bryce Underwood
Sep 13, 2025; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) passes in the first half against the Central Michigan Chippewas at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
Michigan Head Coach Sherrone Moore is serving the final game of his two-game suspension this weekend. After the Wolverines’ showdown with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Moore will be able to rejoin the team and will coach for the rest of the season.
So far, the Wolverines have played just one game under Interim Head Coach Biff Poggi. Last weekend, the Wolverines hosted the Central Michigan Chippewas in the Big House, and they dominated, winning by 60 points. Their true freshman quarterback, Bryce Underwood, looked much more comfortable than he had all season, which caused CBS Sports’ Rick Neuheisel to make a bold statement about who the better coach is for Underwood.
“Biff Poggi, who’s going to be the head coach for Michigan this weekend, is better for Bryce Underwood right now in his career than Sherrone Moore,” said Neuheisel. “Sherrone Moore is coaching to try and win games. Biff Poggi is an old high school coach telling Bryce Underwood ‘Let it rip.’ You can see a complete difference in this guy. Now the caliber of opponent was down, but this guy was running and playing high school football again.”
Sep 13, 2025; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) rushes past Central Michigan Chippewas linebacker Dakota Cochran (1) in the first half at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn ImagesWhen you look at the stats, it’s hard to argue with Neuheisel’s logic. In two games with Sherrone Moore as head coach, Underwood completed 54.5% of his passes for 393 yards and one touchdown while rushing the ball just five times for -6 yards. At times, he looked confused in the pocket, but in his lone game under Poggi, he looked much better.
Last weekend, Underwood threw for 235 yards and a touchdown while rushing nine times for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Obviously, it was against Central Michigan, but he looked much more comfortable than he had in previous weeks.
However, despite what the stats say, this is a bit of a questionable take. Even though Poggi is acting as head coach, he’s listening to the plan Moore laid out for him. He’s not going to undermine his boss while he’s out for two weeks; I believe the game plan to have Underwood run more against CMU would’ve happened no matter who was coaching the team. Moore had alluded to opening up the run game for Underwood more in the future, so that could’ve been the plan all along.
If Underwood marches into Memorial Stadium, has another big game against the Cornhuskers, then struggles in two weeks when he faces Wisconsin off a bye, then there could be some weight to this argument. But until then, it’s unfair to suggest that Moore isn’t the right coach for Underwood.
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