New York Times bestselling author John U. Bacon often says Michigan football fans aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy. However, after the 2021-23 run, Wolverines fans have often been so happy, as there have been few reasons to be upset with the maize and blue.
In the recent past, a win over in-state rival Michigan State would never cause consternation, and yet this Saturday’s win over the Spartans has had a significant amount of Michigan fans in a bit of a tizzy. And that’s because star freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood only managed 86 yards passing — his career low.
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Appearing on WCSX on Thursday morning, head coach Sherrone Moore noted that the reason why the passing game wasn’t exactly exemplary (particularly in the second half) was that the Wolverines were running the ball with impunity. Harkening back to his interim head coaching stint against Penn State in 2023, he feels that if you can run the ball the way that Michigan was, there’s no reason to pass.
“The No. 1 objective and goal that I’ve learned in college football is to win. They don’t ever remember how you won. They just remember that you did win,” Moore said. “And we’re going to talk about our ’23 year when Penn State — came around 35, 34 times in a row. That wasn’t a like conscious goal in the game. ‘We’re going to do this 35 times, we’re going to run the ball.’ You get to the game, and something is working, and create the rhythm and also create a competitive balance for you in the defense. And you continue that.
“And we threw the ball within there, and there was some — the touchdown drive in the third quarter of the second touchdown, it was really started by a big play throw by Bryce to Andrew Marsh. And then it was two plays later, it was a run to the left, and Justice Haynes scored. So it’s not like we had — we didn’t throw the ball at all. And in the first drive in the red zone — and I look back at that, I was like, ‘Man, maybe we should have ran the ball twice or three times. We were on the three-yard line, and we take a couple of throws. So if you don’t get it and you run it, people are like, ‘Well, should have threw it,’ you know?
“So I think regardless of what people think, you got to go with your guts and what you feel is best to help the team win. And when you come out in the third quarter and the first play goes for 20 yards, the next play goes for 27 yards, that we kind of be fools to just say, okay, well, let’s change that because it’s one for 20 yards. Like you don’t do that, not in football, nobody ever will. So we’ll continue to be confident in Bryce in the passing game. And I look forward to watching them put their work in this week and what it looks like this week, because I think it’s going to be exciting, but we want to win that game, and we all knew it was going to be a bludgeoning fist fight to do it. And we won it.”
Justice Haynes was the star of the show on Saturday, but redshirt freshman Jordan Marshall has been coming on in recent weeks. Playing a reserve role against MSU, Marshall managed 110 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries.
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Given his skill set, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Marshall get more run as the Wolverines play down the stretch.
“He’s a violent runner, and he’s like the body shot,” Moore said. “Justice is a great player. But Jordan is a great player. And we’ve got some young guys that I’m really excited about. Hopefully, they can get some run here. Jasper Parker and Bryson Kuzdzal. Bryson Kuzdzal is probably as fast — maybe not quite as fast as Justice, but pretty close. Wow. And Jasper Parker’s a true freshman this way, but Jordan has just been, there’s something about him. He’s that heavyweight boxer that’ll wear you down. And then all of a sudden, you get to about the 11th round, 12th round, he’s going to break one because he’s broken you. That was the 56-yard run. And he’s explosive too, because he only had 15 carries and he had 105 yards.
“So, just that room is great. Coach Alford, Coach Jackson do a great job with that run when it’s fun. It’s a fun room to be around.”
Michigan’s next contest will come against Purdue in the penultimate home game of the 2025 season. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. EDT at The Big House with the game set to broadcast on BTN.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Sherrone Moore explains Michigan’s run-heavy plan vs. Michigan State
