Newsstand: National writer expects Wolverines to stay in College Football Playoff race
Michigan football has moved through the first 5 weeks of the schedule with relative ease, moving to 5-0 on the season after a win at Iowa on Saturday afternoon. The 4th-ranked Wolverines passed a test that many expected them to stumble at heading into the season and now the door is cracked open for a special year.
The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach believes that Michigan has the goods to stay in the College Football Playoff conversation all season long thanks to the play of sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy and junior running back Blake Corum.
Here’s what she said about Michigan this week in ranking them 4th coming out of the 5th week of the regular season:
The task facing quarterback J.J. McCarthy has grown more difficult by the week, but Saturday’s 27-14 win against Iowa was the test I was most curious to see. McCarthy did well in easily the most challenging environment he’s played in, piloting an offense that consistently moved the ball against a defense that entered the weekend ranked in the top 10 in both total defense and rushing defense and No. 1 in the FBS in scoring defense. Michigan did struggle at times to finish drives, needing to kick field goals twice in the second quarter despite dominating the game at that point. But the Wolverines held the ball for two-thirds of the first half.
McCarthy finished 18 of 24 through the air, his 155 yards and a touchdown nicely balancing out a rushing attack that accounted for 172 yards. Blake Corum topped the 100-yard mark yet again, and Michigan did not turn the ball over once against a defense very good at forcing them. There were a couple of moments late in the game when it looked like the Hawkeyes might make things interesting, but Iowa’s offense is, well, Iowa’s offense.
It’s clear at this point that the Wolverines are at minimum the second-best team in the Big Ten. Which means they should stay in College Football Playoff contention deep into the season.
Tweets of the day
Michigan quote of the day
We’re 5-0 now. You can’t get to 6-0 unless you’re 5-0. It’s kind of cool. We looked at that and go we haven’t won here since 2005. Game of the year last year was when we went to Wisconsin, and we hadn’t won Wisconsin since (2001). So we keep track of those things. Yeah, it feels good. It’s a great thrill, the great thrill of victory, great thrill of winning. It’ll be the best win of the week!
– Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh on the win at Iowa
Headlines of the day
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The Wolverine Live: Balas and Skene recap the victory at Iowa
Thoughts, tidbits on two key 2024 Michigan targets in the DMV
Michigan football stays at No. 4 in updated Week 6 AP Poll
Snap counts, PFF grades and takeaways from Michigan’s victory over Iowa
