Spring Opponent Review: Michigan

With spring practices now wrapped up around the country, HuskerOnline.com will look at where each of Nebraska’s 12 opponents in 2021 currently stands coming out of spring ball and heading into the summer.

Today we preview the Michigan Wolverines, who host the Huskers in Minneapolis on Oct. 16.

The Wolverines are entering their seventh season under head coach Jim Harbaugh, but some major staff shakeups and big questions at key positions have UM with plenty of work to do this offseason.

We caught up with Chris Balas of TheWolverine.com to get the latest on Michigan coming out of spring ball.

If there was one word to describe this offseason for Michigan football, it would be “reset.”

While Harbaugh is still in charge, his staff was almost completely overhauled.

They hired a first-time defensive coordinator in Mike Macdonald, a new running backs coach in former UM tailback Mike Hart, the addition of defensive pass-game coordinator/defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale from Kentucky, and more.

Macdonald replaced Maurice Linguist, who was initially hired to take over for Don Brown but left to take the head job at Buffalo after just four months in Ann Arbor.

A big reason for the staff turnover was to bring in younger coaches that could help recruiting, as the depth and overall level of championship talent had noticabely fallen off over the past few cycles.

The biggest concerns coming out of the spring are are quarterback and on the defensive front seven. Michigan’s quarterback play has been underwhelming under Harbaugh so far, and the hope is Cade McNamara will be able to change that.

Hassan Haskins will carry the load in the running game behind an offensive line that has talent but not much experience as a unit. There are solid options at wide receiver, but none seem to be in the game-changer category.

The secondary will be the strength on defense, particulary the talent at safety. But the lack of proven depth on the defensive line and linebacker could make stopping the run a major challenge this season.

The Wolverines finished with the third-worst in the Big Ten in 2020, allowing 434 yards and 35 points per game.

The offensive line looks to be the most stable piece of Michigan’s offense coming out of the spring.

The Wolverines have four players with starting experience back up front, led by honorable-mention All-Big Ten tackle Andrew Stueber.

Blake Corum will likely be the top backup behind Haskins, and three of UM’s top four receivers are back from last season, led by Ronnie Bell and Cornelius Johnson.

Defensive end Aidan Hutching is back to anchor Michigan’s new three-man d-line along with Christopher Hinton and nose tackle Donovan Jeter.

John Ross, the team’s leading tackler last year, is back at linebacker. Michael Barrett, who ranked third in tackles, also returns and will have the task of trying to replace first-round NFL draft pick Kwitty Paye as the top pass rusher.

All-Big Ten honorable-mention safeties Daxton Hill and Brad Hawkins will give Michigan a strong back end, and both starting cornerbacks return in Gemon Green and Vincent Gray.

Haskins only started two games last season while backing up Zach Charbonnet (now at UCLA) but still ended up leading the team with 61 carries, 375 yards, and six touchdowns.

He’s not regarded as a dynamic playmaker, but the 2020 honorable mention All-Big Ten selection gives the Wolverines a steady and consistent presence at running back on an offense searching for skill position players.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior out of St. Louis, Mo., averaged 6.1 yards per carry last year, and he’ll once again be the workhorse in UM’s backfield in 2021.

An injury cut Hutchinson’s season short to just three games in 2020, but he returns for his fourth year regarded as one of the best defensive ends in the country.

The 6-6, 269, Michigan native was a monster as a sophomore in 2019, racking up 68 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, six pass breakups, four quarterback hurries, and two forced fumbles to earn third-team All-Big Ten honors.

He only had 15 tackles and two quarterback hurries last year, but many regard Hutchinson as a potential first-round draft pick if he can return to his old form.

After redshirting his first season, Mike Morris only appeared in one game and made just one tackle in 2020.

But as Michigan searches for help at pass rusher, the door is wide open for the 6-6, 276, Florida native to vault his way up the depth chart.

A former four-star recruit who ranked as the nation’s No. 21 at weak-side defensive end and the No. 47 player in Florida in the 2019 class, Morris showcased his disruptive ability at American Heritage (Fla.) High School.

He had 89 tackles as a senior, including 25 tackles for loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown as a senior. He also racked up a whopping 13 sacks as a freshman.

When Harbaugh took over back in 2015, quarterback was the one position Michigan fans didn’t expect to worry about going forward.

But since a successful transfer year from Iowa castoff Jake Ruddock in Year 1, the play under center has hardly been what the Wolverines expected.

Michigan’s standard for quarterbacks is to play at a championship level, and the recent performances over the past four years have been anything but that.

McNamara showed flashes in relief last season. He took over against Rutgers and completed 27-of-36 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns (and another rushing score) in just over a half.

That gave him the highest single-game completion percentage for a UM quarterback with 36 or more attempts in school history.

However, after earning his first start the following week at Penn State, McNamara went just 12-of-25 passing for 91 yards.

McNamara had a strong spring, but the jury is still out on whether he’s capable of being the championship-level QB Michigan demands.

Balas: “That’s a tough one because (Lincoln) is such a tough place to play, No. 1. We’ve been there, and we’ve seen the atmosphere, and that’s just a fun venue.

“I think Nebraska will be able to move the ball on Michigan. I do. It’s amazing the similarities between these two programs and their coaches and how everybody is waiting for them to turn the corner, and they still have a lot of question marks.

“But I think I saw the early line on that was Michigan by two and a half, and I think that one could go either way. I think there will be some points put on the board, and again, I think Michigan’s front seven is vulnerable, and Nebraska will be able to put up some points.”

Balas: “Yeah, 7-5. I think a lot of people will be upset, but most people just want to see improvement and better culture and not laying down for teams like Wisconsin last year when that game was over in the second quarter.

“I think it will be a 7-5 season, and they need to show improvement throughout because this is kind of a reset and a rebuild.

There’s some good young talent on this team, but they’re going to have to win their first four games on the schedule – which includes a home game vs. Washington – and get some really good quarterback play to exceed that.”