The Michigan Wolverines left Lincoln with a 30-27 win over Nebraska. Michigan looked to freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood to lead the team’s offense once again. Underwood is just one game away from burning his redshirt, but he isn’t the only one, as wide receiver Andrew Marsh, cornerback Jayden Sanders and edge rusher Nate Marshall have each been on the field in all four games so far this season.
Here are the freshmen who have seen playing time this season. An asterisk (*) indicates they played
in the game against Nebraska.
- QB Bryce Underwood* (4 games)
- RB Jasper Parker (2 games)
- WR Andrew Marsh* (4 games)
- WR Jacob Washington (1 game)
- WR Jamar Browder (1 game)
- TE Eli Owens (1 game)
- OL Avery Gach (1 game)
- OL Kaden Strayhorn (1 game)
- OL Ty Haywood (1 game)
- Edge Nate Marshall (4 games)*
- DL Benny Patterson (3 games)*
- DL Travis Moten (1 game)
- DL Bobby Kanka (1 game)
- LB Chase Taylor (2 games)
- DB Elijah Dotson* (3 games)
- DB Jordan Young (2 games)
- DB Jayden Sanders* (4 games)
- DB Shamari Earls* (2 games)
- DB Kainoa Winston (1 game)
Underwood ended the day with 105 yards passing, completing 12-of-22 attempts. While he didn’t throw for a touchdown, he did pick up one with his legs and rushed for 61 yards, but he did lose a fumble. The Wolverines are still looking for the passing game to start clicking, but Underwood is showing improvement each week.
Marsh was relatively quiet in this game, especially on offense. He did have a few nice blocks downfield, but didn’t have any stats as a receiver in this one.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Wolverines continue to utilize Sanders at cornerback with senior Zeke Berry out due to injury. He had eight tackles and a pass breakup. His most impressive play was arguably a third-down stop that forced Nebraska to punt on its first possession of the second half.
Sanders’ fellow freshmen in the secondary, Elijah Dotson and Shamari Earls, didn’t have the same kind of success. Dotson was in the end zone in coverage when Raiola threw a touchdown pass that thankfully got negated, while Earls got called for a costly pass interference that allowed Nebraska to keep its final drive alive.
Finally, Marshall was used on special teams in this game and did not rack up any stats.
Michigan has a bye week before taking on Wisconsin at home on Oct. 4. It seems obvious that Underwood, Marsh and Sanders will likely burn their redshirts in that game.
