Michigan safety Rod Moore will return for senior season with Wolverines: 'Run it back'
Michigan Wolverines football safety Rod Moore will run it back for one more season, announcing that he will return for his senior year. Moore has one additional campaign of eligibility. Moore made his announcement on social media.
The 6-foot-0, 198-pounder out of Clayton (Ohio) Northmont already has a 3-0 record against home state Ohio State. Most of Moore’s family and friends were Buckeyes, and he told them before he came to Ann Arbor that he’d beat them. He’s accomplished that so far, and it was Moore who came up with the game-sealing interception in a 30-24 victory over the Buckeyes Nov. 25 at The Big House.
Moore and Co. also finished the deal by winning the national championship. His class has a 40-3 record over three seasons with the Wolverines, capped off by a 15-0 campaign in 2023, and a chance to build on it in 2024.
Moore began this past season dealing with a knee injury that held him out of all three Michigan non-conference games. He missed a tackle on a touchdown on his third snap of the season against Rutgers but rounded into form by midseason and finished the year with some big performances. Moore averaged 4.7 tackles per game and 28 total over his last six appearances, after posting just 10 stops in the previous six.
All told for the year, Moore registered 38 tackles, including 1 for loss, with 2 interceptions. His first pick of the season came in a win over Purdue Nov. 4.
Moore led Michigan in interceptions as a sophomore in 2022, with the ballhawk’s 4 picks standing as the most by a U-M safety since Dewayne Patmon had an identical number in 1998.
The former three-star recruit recorded 71 tackles with 1.5 behind the line of scrimmage for the 2022 campaign. As a freshman the prior year, Moore played in 11 games with four starts. His first career start came when he finished with 6 tackles in a 21-17 win at Penn State. He tied for the team’s lead with 9 tackles in a 42-27 victory over Ohio State at The Big House.
Moore was a three-star prospect and the No. 483 overall player in the 2021 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking.
