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Three areas where Michigan must improve
Sep 20, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) looks to pass against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Three areas where Michigan must improve

Originally posted on Michigan Wolverines on SI
By Luke Hubbard  |  Last updated Sep 23, 2025 2:15 PM ET

The Michigan Wolverines are off to a fine start to the 2025 season. They're sitting at 3-1 with their only loss coming on the road to a top-10 Oklahoma team, and now they're about to enter their bye week.

The Wolverines have done a lot of things well thus far. They're one of the best rushing offenses in college football and have an elite pass rush, but there are still plenty of things to clean up if they want to contend for the Big 10 title.

Here are three areas Michigan must improve upon if it wants a chance of returning to the College Football Playoffs.

Deep Passing Game

Through the first four games of his career, Bryce Underwood has been pretty good. He's thrown for 733 yards and two touchdowns while turning the ball over just one time. He has added 169 yards and three scores on the ground. He's managing the offense at the moment, but if they want to hit their peak, they need to get better at pushing the ball downfield.

Through four games, Underwood has completed six of his 18 passing attempts for 191 yards, one touchdown and one interception when throwing 20+ yards downfield. Those numbers aren't horrible, but when you look at his stats against Power Four opponents (2-for-8, 82 yards), it gets a bit worrisome.

Part of the blame falls on Michigan's receivers, but Underwood's got to take some accountability, too. His deep ball accuracy hasn't fully been there, but if he can dial it in and the Wolverines can start taking the top off opposing defenses, watch out.

Coverage

Michigan's defense has played pretty well this season. They've held two high-powered offenses in Oklahoma and Nebraska to 24 and 27 points, respectively, which is all you can really ask for when facing John Mateer and Dylan Raiola. However, there's still a lot of room to improve, particularly in the secondary.

Last weekend, Michigan sacked Dylan Raiola seven times and pressured him on 22 of his drop backs (45%). Despite the constant pressure, Raiola was still able to throw for 308 yards and three touchdowns. His numbers dropped drastically when pressured, but he still completed 54% of his passes for 97 yards when under duress.

In two games against Power Four opponents, Michigan has given up a 71.8% completion percentage, 578 yards (237 after the catch) and four touchdowns. They have been able to pick off two passes, which has certainly helped, but you'd love to see the completion percentage and yards per game go way down.

They won't face quarterbacks as good as John Mateer and Dylan Raiola every week, but their secondary still needs to play better if they want to reach their ultimate goals.

Catching The Football

It sounds simple, but Michigan's receiving corps has dropped far too many passes early in the season, and when you have a young quarterback trying to build confidence, that's the last thing you can do.

Donaven McCulley hasn't been credited with a single drop all year, but Semaj Morgan and Channing Goodwin, the Wolverines' next two leading receivers, have both been credited with four drops in four games. Morgan and Goodwin have been targeted a combined 35 times and have dropped eight passes. That's nearly 25% of their targets. You simply cannot have that happen at this level of football.

If Michigan's offense wants to fully click, Underwood needs to be better, but so do his receivers.

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This article first appeared on Michigan Wolverines on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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