Tag: michigan wolverines

Previewing the Michigan offense ahead of Oregon’s Week 10 matchup

The Michigan offense has struggled to find its way, but quarterback Davis Warren has settled it down lately as it prepares to face Oregon.

It’s been a trying time for the Michigan offense this season.

The Wolverines have gone through three quarterbacks due to injury or poor play and now they’re down to two signal callers after Jack Tuttle announced his retirement from the game due to concussions.

Head coach Sherrone Moore announced Davis Warren will start against the No. 1 Oregon Ducks, but expect Alex Orji to receive some snaps as well to keep the Oregon defense on its toes.

Warren has been okay this season, but far from great. He has a 67 completion percentage, which is good, but unfortunately for Michigan, he has just three touchdowns to go along with six interceptions.

“Davis (Warren) has earned the opportunity … won the spot and we will continue to roll how we did last game,” Moore said in his weekly Monday news conference.

For the Wolverine offense to succeed against Oregon, it will need to run the ball first and foremost to open up the passing game. Lately, that’s been easier said than done. The Wolverines rushed for just 119 yards in a 24-17 win over rival Michigan State. Their leading rusher, Kalel Mullings, averages 87 yards a game and 5.6 yards per carry.

The passing game has been a bit erratic because of the constant switching at the quarterback position, but tight end Colston Loveland is one of the best tight ends out there. He leads the Wolverines in receiving with 42 catches for 411 yards and four touchdowns.

As for the offensive line, it wouldn’t be a Big Ten offensive line if it wasn’t huge up front and Michigan isn’t any different. It’s led by 342-pound Myles Hinton, a six-year senior. Ducks fans should be very familiar with Hinton as he spent three seasons at Stanford before moving on to Ann Arbor.

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A Blowout in the Big House: The History of Oregon vs. Michigan

A look back at the history between the Oregon Ducks and the Michigan Wolverines on the girdiron.

The Oregon Ducks are heading to Ann Arbor this week, taking on the reigning National Champion Michigan Wolverines in a game that few expect to be a close game. In the preseason, many favored Oregon to win this game, but rarely by more than a few points. Now, the margin is much wider.

This will, of course, be the first conference matchup between these two teams, but the Ducks and Wolverines have shared the field together five times before. Their first meeting came in 1948, and Oregon was defeated 14-0. Oregon lost their next two games against Michigan, in 1960 and 1973, before beating the Wolverines in 2003 and 2007.

Oregon’s victory over Michigan in 2007 is famous in Oregon football fandom. The Ducks traveled to Ann Arbor early in the season as 8-point underdogs, but ended up winning 39-7, kicking off what would be an — at-first — triumphant season, followed by a feeling of ‘what could’ve been.’

The Ducks began the 2007 season unranked, but they shot into the top 25 after beating Michigan. Oregon climbed as high as No. 2 before star quarterback Dennis Dixon was knocked out by an ACL tear, extinguishing Oregon’s national championship aspirations. It’s one of the biggest ‘What-Ifs’ in Oregon history. The Ducks finished their 2007 season ranked No. 23 with a win in the Sun Bowl.

There were a few plays in the 2007 game against Michigan that make it so famous. Oregon offensive coordinator Chip Kelly first called a Statue-of-Liberty run to Jonathan Stewart, and later on, Dixon faked the Statue-of-Liberty hand-off and kept the ball himself for one of the most quintessential touchdowns in Oregon history.

The 5-3 2024 Wolverines and 2023 National Champion Wolverines are unrecognizable teams, and despite their winning record, Michigan has become one of the bottom teams in the Big Ten this season. And with how well Oregon is playing, we could be primed for another blowout in the Big House. Maybe we’ll even see some Statue of Liberty action.

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Duke football to face defending national champions in CBS Sports bowl projections

With the college football season entering the final stretch, the CBS Sports bowl projections include an interesting matchup for Duke.

As the college football season continues on, fans get closer and closer to bowl season. As a result, CBS Sports analyst Jerry Palm updated his 2024 bowl predictions once again on Sunday.

Palm put the Blue Devils in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines, last year’s national champions. The game would take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on January 3.

The Wolverines, now led by former offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, are off to a 5-3 start in their title defense with losses to the Texas Longhorns, Illinois Fighting Illini, and Washington Huskies. Michigan will play the Oregon Ducks, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Indiana Hoosiers before the end of the season.

The Duke’s Mayo Bowl saw the West Virginia Mountaineers bully the North Carolina Tar Heels for a 30-10 victory last year. Duke beat the Troy Trojans in the Birmingham Bowl, securing the Blue Devils’ fifth postseason win in a row.

If this matchup came to fruition, Duke would have the advantage at quarterback. Michigan has struggled all season to find someone who can replace 2023 starter JJ McCarthy, and three different Wolverines have thrown at least 40 passes.

Additionally, Duke’s defense would match up well against the struggling aerial attack after allowing 5.4 yards per pass attempt through Week 9, the fifth-best mark in the FBS.

Will Michigan’s Will Johnson play this week? Injury updates for Wolverines CB

Michigan Wolverines cornerback Will Johnson is dealing with an unspecified injury. Here are the latest updates.

The Oregon Ducks are going on the road to one of the most famous places in the college football world in Week 10, facing the Michigan Wolverines in The Big House.

While that might have been a supremely daunting trip a year ago while Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines were on their way to a national championship, things are different this year. Michigan is 5-3 this year, with a stagnant offense making things hard on what remains of a very talented defense.

On paper, the Ducks are favored to win this game by two scores, but that number could go up based on the availability of one of Michigan’s best players.

Cornerback Will Johnson left the Week 8 game vs. Illinois with a lower-leg injury, and he did not play in Week 9 against the Michigan State Spartans. 

Will Johnson injury update

There are limited updates on the actual lower-leg injury itself, for Johnson, other than the fact that he is considered questionable going forward. On Monday, Michigan coach Sherrone Moore did not provide a detailed update about how the injury is progressing for the CB who is projected to be a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

How long will Will Johnson be out?

There is some optimism that Johnson will return to the field at some point this year, and Moore said on Monday that the veteran defender has no plans of sitting out the remainder of the season in order to focus on his NFL career.

“Will has no plan of just shutting it down or anything like that,” Moore said. “Will, if he could go out there, he would go out there in a heartbeat, and I know that he’ll be back out there at some point this season, whether it’s this week, next week, whatever it is, and there’s zero, zero doubt in my mind that he’s a competitor that wants to be out there with his teammates, so I know he’ll be back.

“We’ll see how it works out this week and what he can do. So we’ll just let the doctors handle that.”

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Michigan Wolverines name their starting QB for Week 10 game vs. No. 1 Oregon

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore has tabbed Davis Warren to start at quarterback against No. 1 Oregon on Saturday.

This story was updated to add new information.

It’s been a challenging first season for the Michigan Wolverines and their first-year head coach Sherrone Moore.

The Wolverines (5-3) have gone through three quarterbacks and are coming off a 24-17 win over Michigan State. Moore has decided on a signal-caller for their big game with No. 1 Oregon in Week 10.

“Davis (Warren) has earned the opportunity … won the spot and we will continue to roll how we did last game,” Moore said in his weekly Monday news conference.

Moore could have gone with Alex Orji, but Warren earned the nod after he was 13-of-19 passing for 123 yards and a touchdown in their last outing.

Jack Tuttle had played in the previous two games before being declared out for the game against Michigan State. The reason was not disclosed, but Tuttle provided it Monday night.

The seventh-year quarterback announced he was medically retiring from football as a result of a fifth concussion. He also revealed his arm had not returned to normal after surgery to repair an ulnar collateral ligament injury.

In his two games this year, he had a 60 completion percentage, 306 yards, two interceptions and one touchdown.

Orji is more of a runner than a passer as he is third on team in rushing with 188 yards on the grounds and a score. As a passer, Orji has a 54% completion rate with 148 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

Warren is more of a pocket passer with a 67% completion rate (61 of 91), good for 567 yards, but he has three touchdowns to go with his six interceptions.

We will see how he can do against the Ducks’ secondary this week. So far this year, Oregon’s defense has been playing very well, with the No. 12 total defense in the nation. The Ducks have given up an average of 173.8 passing yards per game (16th in the nation).

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Oregon Ducks unveil all-white ‘Warp Speed’ uniforms for Michigan game in Week 10

The Oregon Ducks are paying homage to Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart with their Week 10 uniforms against the Michigan Wolverines.

The Oregon Ducks tapped into their warp-speed mode when announcing their uniforms for Saturday’s Week 10 game on the road against the Michigan Wolverines. 

Instead of waiting for the normal Wednesday release date, the Ducks unveiled their new uniforms on Sunday morning, debuting the new all-white combo from the Generation O jersey line. 

Fit with chrome helmets, white tops and white pants, Oregon will be dressed to impress for this clash in The Big House.

Oregon Ducks Week 10 Uniforms

 

Photo Courtesy of Oregon Athletic Department
Photo Courtesy of Oregon Athletic Department
Photo Courtesy of Oregon Athletic Department

The last time Oregon played Michigan in Ann Arbor, Jonathan Stewart and Dennis Dixon led the way in a 39-7 blowout win. For this occasion, the Ducks unveiled their final Generation O uniform using a video from Stewart and Dixon talking about how quiet they turned The Big House with their use of not one, but two successful Statue of Liberty plays. Check it out.

The game will kick off on Saturday on CBS at 12:30 p.m. PDT.

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Michigan’s Colston Loveland dropped a petty ‘Lil bro’ comment after postgame scuffle with Michigan State

Michigan won the game and kept on attacking.

Michigan may be the reigning national champions, and Michigan State may be in the first year of a rebuild under head coach Jonathan Smith, but absolutely none of that matters when the two in-state rivals met up on Saturday.

Both were out for blood. Both on the scoreboard, and seemingly, on the field after the final whistle. As Michigan knelt out the clock on a 24-17 victory under the lights at the Big House, a scuffle ensued and the teams had to be separated.

No one is really surprised to see the emotions boil over in such a heated rivalry, but it was the way Michigan’s Colston Loveland described the kerfuffle that’s likely to keep raising those tensions.

Yep. That’s Loveland with a call back to Mike Hart’s infamous “little brother” comment. That’s also bound to sting a little bit more on Saturday considering MSU opened the scoring with a 7-0 lead in the first quarter before the Wolverines rattled off 16 straight points to yank the lead away for good.

Suddenly we’re already counting down the days until these two teams meet in East Lansing next year.

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Former Notre Dame commit could be on the verge of flipping once again

Hard to say this is surprising

As recruiting goes, or really anything with a teenager, they change their minds on a dime.

That’s what happened with former Notre Dame safety commit [autotag]Ivan Taylor[/autotag]. The 6-foot, 174-pound prospect committed to the Irish on Dec. 1 last year, but kept his options open.

The nation’s 58th overall prospect, according to the 247Sports composite, took his official visits and eventually flipped his commitment to Michigan.

While it seemed like Ann Arbor would be the final destination for Taylor, that may not be the case. On Tuesday it was reported by On3’s Chad Simmons that the safety is once again contemplating a flip, this time to Alabama.

The Crimson Tide were one of three official visits Taylor took in the spring. While Notre Dame may have taken him off its recruiting board, Alabama continued to work on him.

While both Michigan and Alabama have worse records than the Irish this season, it doesn’t seem to matter to Taylor. We’ll continue to monitor what happens with his recruitment, even if he will not end up in South Bend.

West Orange High School Warriors’ Ivan Taylor watches from the sidelines at the Florida High School 7v7 Association state championship in The Villages on Friday, June 24, 2022. Paul Ryan / Correspondent

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Game time announced for No. 1 Oregon Ducks vs. Michigan Wolverines

No. 1 Oregon vs. Michigan, coming to you in the noon window on CBS.

Coming into the 2024 college football season, the November game between the Oregon Ducks and Michigan Wolverines was circled on the calendar by  many. It was projected to be one of the best games of the year in the Big Ten.

The Ducks have held up their end of the bargain. They are ranked No. 1 in the nation going into the final week of October. The Wolverines, however, have struggled in their championship hangover season.

Whether a top-25 matchup or not, it’s still going to be one of the more hyped games on TV in Week 10. It’s getting corresponding treatment from the networks.

On Monday, the conference announced Oregon-Michigan will kick off at 12:30 p.m. PT on Nov. 2 and be carried on CBS.

This is the second game Oregon has played on CBS this season.

A point spread has not been released for this game, but the Duck should be sizeable favorites, despite playing on the road in a tough environment.

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Updated Big Ten football standings after Week 8: Indiana and Oregon in first-place tie

Could we get an Oregon vs. Indiana Big Ten championship game? Updated Big Ten football standings after Week 8.

While Penn State was off this past week, the Nittany Lions remained one of three undefeated teams in Big Ten play this fall. But Penn State is now, technically, looking up in the updated Big Ten conference standings following the results of Week 8. Indiana and Oregon remained undefeated this season and improved to 4-0 in Big Ten play with blowout wins this weekend. Penn State will not face either team in the regular season, so watching what they do is critical if Penn State can continue to take care of its own schedule the rest of the way. Penn State is gearing up for a challenging three-game stretch beginning with this week’s road trip to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is seemingly surging at a good time too with another dominant performance on the scoreboard against its opponent. Wisconsin has outscored its last three opponents by a combined score of 117-16 (Rutgers, Northwestern, and Purdue). Of course, the Badgers will also be facing their biggest challenge since playing Alabama and USC in back-to-back weeks in September.

Here is a look at the updated Big Ten football standings at the conclusion of Week 8.

B1G W B1G L W L
Indiana 4 0 7 0
Oregon 4 0 7 0
Penn State 3 0 6 0
Illinois 3 1 6 1
Wisconsin 3 1 5 2
Ohio State 2 1 5 1
Iowa 2 2 4 3
Washington 2 2 4 3
Michigan 2 2 4 3
Michigan State 2 2 4 3
Nebraska 2 2 5 2
Minnesota 2 2 4 3
Northwestern 1 3 3 4
Maryland 1 3 4 3
Rutgers 1 3 4 3
USC 1 4 3 4
UCLA 1 4 2 5
Purdue 0 4 1 6

Indiana, Oregon, Penn State, and Illinois are all officially bowl-eligible. No team in the Big Ten is ineligible for postseason play, but Purdue is now sitting on six losses this season, putting them on the brink of being the first Big Ten to be ruled ineligible for a bowl game this season.

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