Five Things Michigan Football Has To Be Thankful For

It's Thanksgiving Day, and Michigan Wolverines football fans should be thankful for many reasons, but most especially for these five things:

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Michigan fans entered the Rutgers game (not literally) thinking there was a chance a win over the Scarlet Knights could be the Wolverines’ last triumph of the season. Now, with redshirt sophomore Cade McNamara’s heroic performance (27-of-36, 260 yards, five total touchdowns) leading the team back from 17-0 down and winning in triple overtime, the ceiling on the offense appears to be raised significantly.

The Wolverines are heading into a matchup with 0-5 Penn State as 3.5-point favorites and, depending on the outcome this weekend, should be favored against Maryland the following week. There’s still a lot to salvage this year, despite the abysmal start, and we’ll see if McNamara can play a big role in that.

After getting just one carry two weeks ago, Haskins may have emerged as Michigan’s feature running back with 22 carries for 110 yards and the game-winning touchdown in triple overtime against Rutgers. Running backs coach Jay Harbaugh has been adamant all season about rotating in his top four backs almost equally, but appeared to take a different approach in Piscataway, one that paid off for the Maize and Blue.

The silver lining in the injuries up front to redshirt sophomore tackles Ryan Hayes and Jalen Mayfield and fifth-year senior center Andrew Vastardis has been opportunity and game reps for several young linemen who held their own, namely redshirt freshman left tackle Karsen Barnhart, redshirt freshman center Zach Carpenter and true freshman right guard Zak Zinter.

Position coach Ed Warinner has recruited well, and he’s known for developing the groups he has into great ones. It’s become clear after watching the aforementioned trio that it should be no different with these young players as their careers progress.

Michigan’s pass defense is one of the worst in the country, allowing 274 yards per game through the air. But sophomore safety Daxton Hill has shined nevertheless (he did struggle against Rutgers but notched the game-sealing interception). On the year, Hill is third on the squad in tackles (37) and has three pass breakups. His man has been targeted 18 times this season, and he’s only allowed 10 catches for 134 yards (including only 33 yards after catch). Hill is around for at least one more season in a winged helmet, and the former five-star’s future is bright.

Michigan has the No. 8 class in the country in 2021, and despite Michigan’s 1-3 start and the noise on social media and from national pundits, the class appears to be, for the most part, locked in on playing for the Maize and Blue. Led by Rivals100 quarterback commit J.J. McCarthy’s parents, many of the commits were on campus two weekends ago and began to form in-person bonds with their future teammates at their future home.

In addition, the commits (and many targets) haven’t been discouraged by the on-field struggles. Instead, they’ve been looking at it as an opportunity to come in, create change and make early impacts.

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