Things to know ahead of Central Michigan vs. Michigan on Saturday

Michigan enters Week 3 sitting at 1-1 on the season after losing to Oklahoma in Week 2. But Michigan is looking to bounce back against in-state Central Michigan. It will be the fifth time the two programs have met, with Michigan taking care of all four contests.

Head coach Sherrone Moore won't be at the game this week. It will be the first of two games that coach Moore will miss due to the self-imposed suspension. It will be former Charlotte head coach, Biff Poggi, filling in as the interim head coach for the next two weeks.

Michigan will look to clean up its offensive and defensive lines this week after having struggled the past two weeks. Before fans tune in, here are some things you should know about the Wolverines vs. the Chips, and some game nuggets.

Wolverines and Chippewas

•  This will be the fifth time in school history that Michigan faces Central Michigan.

•  All four previous meetings between the two squads were in Ann Arbor, with U-M sporting a 4-0 advantage in those contests.

•  The most recent game between the two squads came in 2013, a 59-9 victory for the Wolverines over the Chippewas.

•  Michigan has outscored Central Michigan, 285 to 33, in the four games.

•  U-M head coach Sherrone Moore spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Central Michigan (2014-17).

Michigan Against the MAC 

•  Michigan has compiled a 36-1 record against teams in the Mid-American Conference.

•  The Wolverines have outscored MAC oppo­nents by a 1,355-360 margin in those 37 games.

•  All 37 of the contests against MAC schools have been played at Michigan Stadium.

•  Michigan is facing a MAC school for the first time since 2023, when it hosted Bowling Green.

Game Note Nuggets

• U-M wraps up its non-conference slate with this weekend's matchup against Central Michigan. The Wolverines are 7-2 at home and have a 3-2 mark against non-conference opponents in the last two years under Sherrone Moore.

• First-time starters at Oklahoma included Jimmy Rolder (linebacker), Blake Frazier and Nathan Efobi (offensive line). Jaden Mangham earned his first start at U-M, having done so previously at Michigan State. Altogether, nine Wolverines have made their first career start or first start at U-M so far this year.

• Explosive plays were not a strength for the U-M offense in 2024, but the Wolverines have ripped off 10 plays of 20-plus yards through two weeks of the 2025 season (six in week one, four in week two). Justice Haynes (three) and Donaven McCulley and Channing Goodwin (two each) are leading the pace.

• U-M is winning the turnover battle so far this season, having forced four interceptions with one fumble recovery. The only turnover U-M has lost so far was a fumbled kickoff return.

• Haynes has gone on runs of 56, 59, and 75 yards so far in his U-M career. The 75-yard score in Norman was U-M's longest play since Donovan Edwards housed an 85-yard run in Columbus to help beat Ohio State in 2022.

• Haynes has more rushing yards (284) through the first two starts of his U-M career than any back since at least 2000. Carlos Brown ran for 245 combined yards at Illinois (113 yards, Oct. 20, 2007) and against Minnesota (132 yards, Oct. 27, 2007). Haynes also has four touchdowns through two games.