Pete Thamel explains how Michigan's struggles might be hangover from Jim Harbaugh's departure

Michigan has scored a total of 13 first-half points in its first two games this season. The Wolverines are 113th nationally with 162.5 passing yards per game. Davis Warren is the starting quarterback, but, as ESPN insider Pete Thamel said on the “College GameDay Podcast” Monday, 2024 might just be a “bridge year” under center for Sherrone Moore’s program.

“Like, two years from now when we’re talking about Michigan, we’re going to be like, ‘Yeah, remember that year that they had Davis Warren, and then they’d run in [Alex] Orji on third down.’ I think they epitomize the adage, ‘If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.’

“That’s the very early read.”

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It is early, however, so far Michigan looks the part of a team that sent 18 players to the NFL Combine and had a program-record 13 players drafted. Thamel harped on that point when explaining Michigan’s struggles Monday.

“I feel like some of this Michigan [regression] is a hangover for the timing of when Jim Harbaugh left for the Chargers,” Thamel said. They brought in a few guys from the portal — [Josh] Priebe the interior O-Lineman, [Jaishawn] Barham the linebacker — but they did not address their needs like we’re losing 18 guys to the combine. They picked a little bit. But they have so many — you look at receiver, you look at O-Line, like they needed more reinforcements.

“And, look, it was a hard thing to go get a quarterback when your coach knows he’s leaving. And that was essentially what we all knew. It was a matter of when and not if. I feel like the championship game, combined with the Harbaugh exit, handcuffed them from channeling the momentum from the championship to going full-throated in the portal.”

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Thamel believes that, outside of Colston Loveland — who Thamel said is considered by NFL scouts to be the best tight end in this year’s draft class — Michigan doesn’t have weapons.

“They just simply don’t have weapons,” he said. “They have decent tailbacks but nobody to block for them. They have a below-average Big Ten receiver group at this point. So I just don’t think their very good defense can overcome that. If they are going to win games this year, and they will win some games certainly — and 8-4 like we said in the preseason is probably about right — they’re going to have to win like Michigan State used to win under Mark Dantonio.”

In other words, Thamel believes the Wolverines must grind it out: play the field position game, control the clock and lean on a talented defense.

Thamel reiterated: “They are a team that lost 18 dudes to the NFL Combine, 13 guys to the draft, and just didn’t have the horses to replace them.”

Sherrone Moore believes Michigan is ‘not far’ from Texas’ level

Michigan looked overmatched against a clear national title contender in now-No. 2 Texas last weekend.

The new-look Wolverines offensive line struggled to pave the way in the run game, as now-No. 17 Michigan finished with just 82 rushing yards on 22 attempts, or 3.7 yards per attempt. What was more surprising was the way the Texas offensive line won its head-to-head with a Michigan defensive line rich with NFL talent.

But Moore doesn’t believe his team’s margin of defeat is an accurate indication of how much separation there is between the Wolverines and a team like Texas. In fact, Moore believes the Wolverines are “not far” from Texas’ level.

“I think for us, it’s they executed very cleanly,” Moore said. “All the credit to them and what they did and how they played. So, I’m not going to take anything away from them.

“But, for us, we know that the turnovers, the third down margin — you take those two things, and it gives us a much better chance to be successful. So we know where we’re at. We know what we got to do. And it was a good lesson for us to learn.”

Whereas Texas was 10-of-16 on third down last weekend, Michigan was 3-of-12. The Wolverines also lost the turnover battle, 3-0.

No matter the size of the gap, big or small, Michigan has to close it quickly. A surging USC team is coming to Ann Arbor in less than two weeks.