We love sports, and in particularly college football, because of the debate, and boy is there plenty of debate around the Michigan Wolverines right now. Is Bryce Underwood helping or hurting? Is Sherrone Moore fit to be in charge? Does this team actually hold its own destiny in terms of the College Football Playoff? None of these questions can be answered this week in College Park, meaning all Michigan can do take care of business and move forward.
The Maryland Terrapins are not enjoying the 2025
season. A 4-0 start, including a win over Wisconsin, is pretty meaningless now with six straight losses dragging this team down to 60th per SP+. While the Terps will be big underdogs Saturday for Senior Day, they do get the high honor of playing State at Ford Field on Black Friday, a game no one will want to miss! Anyway, time for Michigan to bounce back after the Wrigley tomfoolery.
No. 18 Michigan (8-2, 6-1) at Maryland (4-6, 1-6)
Date & Time: Saturday, Nov. 22, 4 p.m ET
Location: SECU Stadium, College Park, MD
TV/Streaming: BTN
Every single year, the game before The Game gets marked as a trap game, and yet the Wolverines tend to survive them. Maryland has replaced Indiana as the most common penultimate opponent, with the last two trips to College Park showing both ends of the spectrum. The 2023 game was an uncomfortable 31-24 win (like the Illinois escape the season before it), while the 2021 contest was a 59-18 blowout like the trashing of Northwestern last year. This weekend likely splits the middle, but I suppose these examples show anything could happen.
Offense: Have some control
Underwood gave Michigan the full freshman experience last weekend. The lows were low, but there were plenty of bright spots as well, and most importantly his struggles did not cost the game. Saturday will provide an opportunity to show what to focus on and what to ignore, as Maryland has surrendered the 5th-most passing yards per game in the Big Ten, but does lead the way with 18 interceptions.
This is a good test for Underwood’s decision-making. His chemistry with Andrew Marsh is something to lean into, while the run game is going to be less of a crutch than usual with both Justice Haynes and now Jordan Marshall likely sidelined. This defense is not that good, but road games have been a challenge for the young quarterback — expect the secondary to be hunting for picks.
Meanwhile, Bryson Kuzdzal could have a good day against a rush defense that surrenders the third-most rushing yards in conference play. That is probably the safest route both in terms of health and game flow, but I am curious to see if Underwood deploys his legs some more too. His keeper into the end zone and key third-down pickup in the final two minutes are a good reminder of what his all-around game can look like. He just needs to play within his limits and keep striving for good decisions.
Defense: Under control
Six-straight losses did not deter Maryland from extending Mike Locksley, though hopefully his 81st-ranked offense per SP+ was not the determining factor. The Terps have also gone with a freshman at quarterback this year, and top-100 recruit Malik Washington has featured some of the same ups and downs as Underwood. The big problem is accuracy: Washington is completing just 57.9% of his passes and averaging only 6.2 YPA this season.
Certainly Washington is a bit more threatening than Preston Stone, but overall this is a struggling offense, and Michigan really did not play that poorly defensively last week (or in any of the past four games). The Terps are 118th nationally with 110.6 rushing yards per game and Washington actually has half of the team’s 8 rushing touchdowns, with backs DeJuan Williams and Nolan Ray both inefficient and fairly pedestrian. Williams gets the bulk of the carries but is averaging just 3.7 YPC.
As always, the Wolverines have the potential to be their own worst enemy. As of late, the scheme has been more conservative and the miscues have dropped off, and this game should allow for some cushion on defense. Moore and Wink Martindale may err on the side of waiting for players who are nearly ready to return, but it does not take the entire first-string defense to limit the damage in this one.
Controlling destiny
Tuesday’s CFP rankings did not see any movement for Michigan, causing some concern about missing the postseason even with a 10-2 record, and nothing that happens in College Park is going to significantly reduce those fears. All the Wolverines can do is control what they control and let the rest fall into place, whether that be upsets elsewhere or a significant reevaluation of the resume following the final week of the regular season (which I feel pretty confident in happening, FWIW).
In some ways, last week might be a good thing in terms of mentality. Surely the past week was focused on cleaning up mistakes, and no one is blindly coasting into next weekend after just needing a last-second field goal. Any sort of win would be welcomed Saturday, but a confidence-inspiring one would be nice; I have a suspicion that the Wolverines are going to come out and send a message.
