College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Michigan Wolverines season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Michigan Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 9-4 overall, 6-3 in Big Ten
Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh, 6th year, 47-18
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 12
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 26
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 8
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Michigan Wolverines Offense 3 Things To Know
– The offense wasn’t bad over the first half of the season, but it stalled a bit too often. Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and Jim Harbaugh, though, were able to flip things a bit, and it seemed to come at halftime in the loss to Penn State.
All of a sudden, the running game got nastier when it was time to pound, Shea Patterson and the passing attack was far more effective, and the team went on a run before dropping the dates to Ohio State and Alabama.
Overall, the O was okay – averaging just over 400 yards and 32 points per game – but it needs to be more consistent, and it starts with getting more out of the quarterback.
CFN in 60 Video: Michigan Wolverines Preview
– It’s not that Patterson was bad, but he wasn’t accurate enough game-in-and-game-out. On the plus side, the Wolverines were second in the Big Ten in downfield passing – averaging 14.3 yards per completion – and now it’s up to either Joe Milton or Dylan McCaffrey to take over and do more.
Milton is a mobile 6-5, 245-pound sophomore with a huge arm, and 6-5, 220-pound junior Dylan McCaffrey is used to being the No. 2 guy – neither one has enough experience to matter, though.
The receivers are there to keep the big plays going, but losing Donovan Peoples-Jones to the NFL, and Tarik Black to Texas doesn’t help. Ronnie Bell led the team with 48 catches, and senior Nico Collins led the was with seven touchdown grabs averaging close to 20 yards per catch. Start with those two, and Michigan is okay, but the developed depth isn’t quite there.
The hope is for star recruit AJ Henning to be ready to go right away, and sophomore Cornelius Johnson will play a bigger role – with big being the key word. Johnson is 6-3, Collins is 6-4 and Black is 6-3 – this is a large group of targets.
– The offensive line might need a little bit of time after losing four starters who were drafted, but it’ll be good again. Sophomore Jalen Mayfield is a veteran at one tackle, and then it all fills in from there.
Talents like 6-7, 334-pound Andrew Stueber on the inside and 6-7, 299-pound Ryan Hayes at tackle are good – Stueber is back after being out last season – but they just need time. Making things easier is a deep group of backs that should rock in a rotation.
Zach Charbonnet is coming off a fantastic freshman season with 726 yards and 11 touchdowns, and 6-1, 220-pound Hassan Haskins is back after finishing second with 622 yards and four touchdowns.
Those two are good enough, but throw in Chris Evans – who ran 1,722 yards and 14 scores over three years, but was suspended last year – and this might be the best stable of backs in the Harbaugh era.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Michigan Wolverines Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Michigan Wolverines Defense 3 Things To Know
– The top three tacklers are gone, but the defense that finished 11th in the nation and allowed just under 21 points per game has enough overall talent back to be great again, if the linebacking corps comes together right away.
The Wolverines lost leading tacklers Khaleke Hudson and Jordan Glasgow to the NFL, and not having hybrid pass rusher Josh Uche around anymore hurts even more.
After missing most of last year, Josh Ross is back for one spot on the outside – he’ll be a statistical star – and Michael Barrett is a promising outside option who saw a little bit of time.
On the inside, Cam McGrone will be one of the teams top tacklers after coming up with 65 stops, and there’s going to be a fight for the team’s Viper position – part safety/part linebacker. 6-0, 227-pound junior Michael Barrett will get the first look, but the gig is open.
– The defensive line is going to be terrific. The tackle combination of 6-4, 303-pound sophomore Christopher Hinton and 6-3, 286-pound Carlo Kemp are a good place to start, and there are good options ready to work in the rotation.
The ends are set, with senior Kwity Paye and junior Aidan Hutchinson back after combining for 11 sacks and 24 tackles for loss, but they’re hardly alone. It’s a deep group of pass rushers with excellent depth.
– The secondary that helped the team finish tenth in the nation in pass D has two all-star talents at safety. Former super-recruit Daxton Hill came up with 36 tackles in his freshman season, and senior Brad Hawkins made 53 stops, but he needs to make more plays when the ball is in the air.
Ambry Thomas is one of the best corners in the conference – he made 38 tackles and tied for a team-high three picks – and junior Vincent Gray should be ready for a bigger role after getting in plenty of work in the rotation.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Michigan Wolverines Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Michigan Wolverines Players
Best Michigan Wolverines Offensive Player
WR Nico Collins, Sr.
He might not have been a volume-catcher, but he turned into the most dangerous receiver on a team full of terrific talents. The 6-4, 222-pounder averaged close to 20 yards per catch with seven touchdowns and 729 yards.
Three of his scores came against Indiana, and he only caught more than three passes three times, but the talent is there to be among the nation’s most dangerous playmakers.
2. OT Jalen Mayfield, Jr.
3. WR Ronnie Bell, Jr.
4. RB Zach Charbonnet, Soph.
5. QB Joe Milton, Soph.
– For more on Michigan – including Isaiah Hole’s podcast – check out WolverinesWire
Best Michigan Wolverines Defensive Player
LB Cameron McGrone, Soph.
The superstar recruit of 2018 became a factor in the rotation last year, making 65 stops with 3.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss. This year, he goes from being a good part of the puzzle to the main man in the middle, with 6-1, 232-pound size and unlimited range.
He showed off his upside with 12 tackles against Notre Dame and 11 against Illinois – get ready for him to be a regular double-digit tackler with a whole lot of plays behind the line.
2. CB Ambry Thomas, Sr.
3. DE Aidan Hutchinson, Jr.
4. S Brad Hawkins, Sr.
5. DE Kwity Paye, Sr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Michigan Wolverines Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Michigan Wolverines Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Michigan Wolverines Offense
What’s one thing that the Michigan offense can do really, really well? Start with simply being able to go on long drives on a regular basis.
The offense finished seventh in the Big Ten and 68th in the nation, he was eighth in the conference in rushing, and fifth in passing. The downfield air attack worked, but there was a big, big problem with the O’s consistency.
The rushing attack rocked against Notre Dame, and it failed to hit 100 yards in its last three regular season games. The passing attack threw for over 300 yards in those three games, but it struggled on third downs way too often and then-QB Shea Patterson always seemed like he was about to turn the ball over – even though he wasn’t all that bad at ball security.
Start with third down conversions. The Wolverines failed to convert on any of its ten tries against Wisconsin, and only converted 15% of their chances against Ohio State – both losses.
Michigan is 1-5 over the last three years when it fails to convert at least 30%.
Combine that with the running game that failed to average four yards per carry. Struggle a bit on the ground, put pressure on a passing game that didn’t hit 60% of its passes, and there aren’t easy third down tries.
By comparison – or coincidence – the 2018 team averaged close to five yards per carry, Patterson hit 65% of his throws, and the team converted close to 49% of its third down tries.
Biggest Key To The Michigan Wolverines Defense
Keep everyone (especially Ohio State) to under six yards per play.
The Michigan defense has been absolutely phenomenal under Jim Harbaugh.
It finished 11th in the nation last season, second overall in 2018, third in 2017, and tied with Alabama for No. 1 in 2016, and fourth in Harbaugh’s first season.
And no one would ever know it, because all anyone remembers is the D getting power-dunked on by Ohio State year after year after year.
Last year’s defense allowed just 4.72 yards per play to everyone but three teams – Wisconsin, Alabama, and Ohio State.
Blowout loss, blowout loss (at least, after a half), blowout loss.
Only one other team came up with more than five yards per play – Penn State in the one other loss.
The amazing Michigan D is 0 for its last 7 – it beat Minnesota in 2015 – under Harbaugh when allowing teams to hit six yards per play.
28-1. That’s what Michigan is under Harbaugh – only losing the 14-13 heartbreaker to Iowa in 2016 – when allowing fewer than four yards per play.
Key Michigan Wolverines Player To A Successful Season
QB Joe Milton, Soph.
Or Dylan McCaffrey. Someone has to be a difference-maker at quarterback. Someone has to fix the Achilles heel of the Harbaugh era.
The guy who came to Michigan as a quarterback guru – he figured out Colin Kaepernick before everyone else, and he helped make Andrew Luck, Andrew Luck – still has yet to find a really, really good quarterback.
Jake Rudock, Wilton Speight, John O’Korn, Shane Morris, Brandon Peters, Shea Patterson. Almost all of them had the talent, the recruiting resumé, and the buzz to be something great – and they were all just fine, at best.
Justin Fields, Dwayne Haskins, JT Barrett, Cardale Jones, and go ahead and throw in a little Joe Burrow in there – that’s who Ohio State has had under center since Harbaugh has been at Michigan.
Milton has the size and the skill set to be special, and McCaffrey has been waiting his turn to get in his cuts. One of them has to be a true difference maker. One has to finally give Michigan a quarterback that makes other teams freak out.
Key Game To The Michigan Wolverines Season
at Washington, Sept. 5
Yes, of course – OF COURSE – the entire season comes down to November 28th at Ohio State. Harbaugh has put it out there that the program has to beat Ohio State or bust, no other win will matter until Michigan beats Ohio State again, and …
Beat Ohio State, beat Ohio State, beat Ohio State.
But there are several brutal Big Ten games before that, and an interesting and dangerous trip to Washington to kick things off. To go cliché, this might be a tone-setter one way or another.
This Michigan team is better than the 2020 Washington Huskies, but the Pac-12 needs this, and it’ll be the first game under new UW head man Jimmy Lake.
Lose right out of the gate, and it’s going to be a LONG three months before that trip to Columbus.
– Michigan Wolverines Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Michigan Fun Stats
– Field Goals: Michigan 21-of-27 – Opponents 10-of-10
– Fumbles: Michigan 10 (lost 3) – Opponents 7 (lost 6)
– Time of Possession: Michigan 34:18 – Opponents 25:42
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Michigan Wolverines Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Michigan Wolverines Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
CFN in 60 Video: Michigan Wolverines Preview
We did this same bit last year, but it bears repeating.
Jim Harbaugh has done a much, much better job at Michigan than he gets credit for.
He revived a stagnant powerhouse program – ask Tennessee how hard that is to do – and the exact same reasonable line used before last year still works.
It’s not like the guy is losing to Purdue and Illinois.
Of the 18 losses in his five years, five were to an Ohio State program that’s one a heater of a run, 16 were to teams that finished with ten wins or more, and the other two came against a nine-win South Carolina team in the Outback Bowl collapse to end the 2017 season, and the other was in a 14-13 thriller at Iowa – who finished with eight wins – in 2016.
The guy has won lots and lots of big games, but after four straight bowl losses and all that massive issue with Ohio State, yeah, of course it’s time for more.
And then there’s the other talking point line – okay, so you want to get rid of Harbaugh if he doesn’t beat Ohio State and win the Big Ten title? Who else are you going to get who’s this good?
It’s not like Wisconsin can get by Ohio State lately, and Penn State needed a miraculous play to win the 2016 game, otherwise it would be a run of eight straight losses to that team from Columbus.
And here’s where the apology tour ends.
Set The Michigan Wolverines Regular Season Win Total At … 9.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 9
Ohio State is going to beat Michigan on November 28th.
There. The drama is over. There’s no need to obsess about it, and there’s no need to make this a big deal. Ohio State, Alabama, and Clemson are playing at a whole other level of consistent greatness, and Harbaugh’s program just isn’t there.
However, Michigan is absolutely good enough to beat Washington in Seattle. It’s good enough to beat Wisconsin and Penn State in Ann Arbor, and it’s good enough to beat Michigan State and Minnesota on the road.
It’s good enough to go into that Ohio State game 11-0 with everything on the line.
Do that, and losing to Ohio State might not matter, at least to a point – it would be possible to get into the CFP on the four-best-team theory if that one loss is to another great Buckeye team.
Yeah, Michigan really needs to take it one game at a time to get to that one game it needs to win.
But it won’t. Figure one other misfire along the way to go along with that loss to the Buckeyes.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
