13 days until Michigan football: Look out for potential breakout star Tyler Morris
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 2 opener against East Carolina. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
Michigan football has two returning veteran wide receivers in graduate Cornelius Johnson and senior Roman Wilson. Beyond them, though, someone else has to emerge, and by all accounts that’s expected to be sophomore Tyler Morris.
Morris wore No. 13 as a freshman but has changed his jersey number to 8 this year. He already had drawn some comparisons to Ronnie Bell, another No. 8 who led Michigan in receiving yards three of the last four seasons. Now, he’s drawing even more, with receivers coach Ron Bellamy saying he has laughed during practice while thinking about how similar they are.
Morris had an interesting freshman season that included only 3 catches for 25 yards. He didn’t play from Week 3 to Week 10 — even more strange. But as he developed, he played more. By the end of the season, he earned a contributing role on the back end of the receiver rotation and made the most of it. That helped springboard him into the 2023 offseason.
Morris’ best moment of the 2022 season came when he picked up a key third down in the third quarter of a win at Rutgers, when the game was still in doubt. Morris ran an out route right to the sticks and was found by junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy, his former high school teammate at La Grange Park (Ill.) Nazareth Academy.
McCarthy and Morris have a strong connection, and the Michigan quarterback believes his wide receiver will have a big season.
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“Tyler Morris, he’s gonna make a big name for himself this year,” McCarthy told the media early on during fall camp. “Have had that connection built since my sophomore year in high school. He’s gonna do great things.”
Added McCarthy: “That’s a special connection to me. That’s my guy. That’s my day one. … It’s one of those things where I feel I could close my eyes and throw the ball and I know where he’s gonna be out of his break.”
We saw that on the Rutgers catch last season.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said last week that the Wolverines entered fall camp with Morris in the top three along with Johnson and Wilson. The 5-11, 185-pounder was doing a “phenomenal job” early on, per offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.
By all accounts, he’ll have a big role for Michigan this season.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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