• U-M looks to add to the program’s streak of 27 consecutive Big Ten wins (dating to 2021). That figure represents a program record, with the previous mark set by Gary Moeller’s 1990-92 teams (19).
• The Big Ten conference does not recognize the 2021, 2022, or 2023 title games as conference match-ups, so U-M is at 24 straight wins by the league’s record book (third all-time).
• Twelve (12) players have made their first career starts this fall: wide receiver Kendrick Bell, center Dominick Giudice, tight end Marlin Klein, right tackle Evan Link, wide receivers Fredrick Moore and Peyton O’Leary, quarterback Alex Orji, quarterback Davis Warren on offense; defensive back Zeke Berry, edge TJ Guy, defensive back Jyaire Hill, and edge Derrick Moore on defense.
• Another seven players have made their first career starts as Wolverines after earning starting assignments at their previous institutions: C.J. Charleston (wide receiver), Josh Priebe (offensive line), Jaishawn Barham (linebacker), Aamir Hall (cornerback) Ernest Hausmann (linebacker), Josaiah Stewart (edge), and Dominic Zvada (kicker).
• Fifteen (15) Wolverines have made collegiate debuts this season: Chibi Anwunah (edge), Manuel Beigel (defensive line), Mason Curtis (defensive back), Jo’Ziah Edmond (defensive back), Jake Guarnera (offensive line), Hogan Hansen (tight end), Jason Hewlett (linebacker), Breeon Ishmail (edge), Ike Iwunnah (defensive line), Dominic Nichols (edge), Bryson Kuzdzal (running back), Evan Link (offensive line), Jordan Marshall (running back), Andrew Sprague (offensive line), and Cole Sullivan (linebacker).
• Since the start of the 2016 season, U-M has registered fewer than 100 team passing yards on seven occasions. The Wolverines are 7-0 in such games (and 3-0 under Moore) with wins over Indiana (59 yards, 2016; 58 yards, 2017), Minnesota (56, 2017), Washington (44, 2021), Penn State (60, 2023), USC (32, 2024), and Minnesota (86, 2024) during that stretch (via On3’s Anthony Broome).
• Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades U-M highly in the following categories: overall (20th, 91.6), rushing offense (23rd, 83.6), defense (14th, 90.4), rushing defense (23rd, 87.2), tackling (20th, 76.4), and pass rush (first, 86.3).
• Entering the season, Kalel Mullings had a career-long run of 23 yards (at Minnesota, 2023). So far this season he has five runs of at least 30 yards: 30 (touchdown), 30, 38, 53 (touchdown), and 63 yards.
• Mullings has reached new career highs in carries in three straight weeks (15, 17, 24) and has responded with three straight 100-yard games (two over 150 yards). He is one of five Big Ten backs averaging at least 100 rushing yards per game (108); another is Washington’s Jonah Coleman (104.2).
• The Big Ten named Mullings Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday following his performance against the Gophers
• Mullings has six rushing touchdowns this season (tied-second Big Ten), including three straight games with two touchdowns. Blake Corum scored two or more rushing touchdowns in five straight games in 2023 (Purdue-Iowa; 11 total rushing touchdowns).
• Mullings is 12th in the nation in yards per carry (7.01) and eighth in rushing yards (540). He is Pro Football Focus’ No. 13-graded rusher (86.3) on a minimum of 30 carries, averaging 4.81 yards after contact per attempt (13th in the same sample). He’s lost only seven yards on 77 attempts this year.
• Tight end Colston Loveland has been the leader or co-leader in receptions for U-M in every game he has played this season (four), with 23 total catches.
• Loveland remains highly efficient, averaging 3.04 yards per route run according to PFF. That figure is one of two above 3.0 across all FBS tight ends (second overall) and first among Big Ten tight ends (minimum 18 targets).
• Loveland’s 84 career receptions have him tied for fifth all-time among U-M tight ends. With two more catches, he’ll pass Bennie Joppru (85) for fourth-most all-time. Loveland’s 1,112 career receiving yards are fifth all-time among tight ends at U-M (next: Lowell Perry, 1,261).
• Through two starts, quarterback Alex Orji has helped the Wolverines go 4-for-4 in both the red zone (three touchdowns) and 4-for-4 on fourth down. U-M is fifth in the country with an 85.7 percent fourth-down conversion rate (6-for-7) overall.
• Opponents have struggled to run the ball effectively against the Wolverines (68.8 yards per game). Texas is the only team to reach 100-plus yards on the ground (143) and teams are averaging 2.8 yards per carry overall on the Maize and Blue’s sixth-ranked rushing defense.
• USC’s Woody Marks reached exactly 100 rushing yards on 13 carries against U-M. He was the first back to reach 100-plus rushing yards on U-M since Emari Demercado (150 yards on 17 carries) of TCU (Dec. 31, 2022).
• Fourteen (14) different players have broken up passes for the defense this year including five defensive linemen. Will Johnson leads the team with five (including two interceptions) and Kenneth Grant has four.
• Grant has been active in this area throughout his career; he had six breakups in 2023, giving him 10 for his career. Across 2023 and 2024 combined, the defensive line has been responsible for more than a quarter (27.7 percent) of the team’s total pass breakups (9-of-30 in 2024; 18-of-69 in 2023).
• Mason Graham recorded his first career multi-sack game last weekend (2.0) while Rayshaun Benny gained a share of a sack (0.5) to reach 1.5 sacks for the season, a new career-best. Benny’s 16.7 stop percentage on run plays ranks fifth in the country according to PFF (minimum 30 run defense snaps), and he’s making those tackles an average of 2.9 yards behind the line of scrimmage per attempt.
• Zeke Berry (one interception, one fumble forced/recovered) is tied with Will Johnson (two interceptions) for the team lead in turnovers. Five different players are responsible for U-M’s seven total turnovers (two fumble recoveries, five interceptions).
• U-M posted four sacks and eight tackles for loss in the first half against Minnesota, matching full-game season-best marks set against USC. The most recent game before last weekend in which U-M reached at least four sacks and eight tackles for loss in any single half was in the first half against Penn State (Nov. 15, 2021).
• U-M finished with 9.0 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks, figures only met once during the 2023 season (10.0 and 6.0 against Alabama in the Rose Bowl/CFP Semifinal). The Wolverines have generated 9.0 sacks across two games of Big Ten play this season.
• The defense has generated 30 tackles for loss this season (6.0 per game), led by edge rusher Josaiah Stewart‘s 6.5 (t-18th NCAA). Stewart’s 4.0 sacks are tied for the most by any player in the Big Ten and rank tied-13th nationally.
• Stewart has two multi-sack games already this season (Fresno State, USC, 2.0 each) and is PFF’s No. 1-graded pass rusher (minimum 30 pass rush snaps) at 93.2. His win rate of 26.1 percent is eighth. Derrick Moore is also among the top 25 in pass rush win-rate at 21.5 (25th).
• Tommy Doman is the fourth-graded punter in the nation by PFF (78.6). The 10 fair catches he’s forced are one off the Big Ten lead and tied-12th nationally.
• Doman, whose pro-style approach meshes hangtime with distance to give U-M effective coverage units, ranks 11th in the country and third in the Big Ten in average hangtime (4.25 seconds) among punters with 10-plus attempts.
• Dominic Zvada is a perfect seven-for-seven this year. CFBData’s Bill Radjewski developed Points Added Above Replacement (PAAR) for field goal kickers, a metric meant to describe how much scoring value a player adds to his team relative to a replacement-level kicker. Zvada leads the country with 9.51 points added.
• Zvada is now tied for the U-M career record with four made field goals at 50-plus yards. He is the first U-M kicker with four field goals of 50-plus yards in the same season. He and SMU’s Collin Rodgers are the only kickers with four conversions at 50-plus yards, but Rodgers has needed six attempts to reach that mark to Zvada’s four.
• Zvada was rewarded with his second Big Ten Special Teams honor in five games, receiving the league’s Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week recognition on Monday.
