• Fourteen (14) players have made their first career starts this fall: wide receiver Kendrick Bell, center Greg Crippen, tackle Andrew Gentry, 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 eight 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), Jack Tuttle (quarterback), Jaishawn Barham (linebacker), Aamir Hall (cornerback) Ernest Hausmann (linebacker), Josaiah Stewart (edge), and Dominic Zvada (kicker). Quarterback Jack Tuttle is expected to be added to this list against Illinois.
• 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).
• 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 seven rushing touchdowns this season. He is tied as Pro Football Focus’ No. 6-graded rusher (90.9), averaging 4.13 yards after contact per attempt. He’s lost only eight yards on 110 attempts this year.
• Mullings is 32nd in the nation in yards per carry (6.15) and 20th in rushing yards (676). Donovan Edwards is at 4.89 yards per carry, including 5.7 yards per carry over the last four games (44 carries, 249 yards). Edwards’ two longest runs have come in that span (39, 41 yards) along with two of his three touchdowns.
• Edwards is also just 51 yards shy of setting the career receiving yards record by a running back at Michigan, currently held by Anthony Thomas (810 yards).
• Tight end Colston Loveland has been the leader or co-leader in receptions for U-M in every game he has played this season (six), with 36 total catches.
• Loveland remains highly efficient, averaging 2.67 yards per route run according to PFF. That figure is seventh in the country among FBS tight ends (minimum 25 targets) and second among Big Ten tight ends.
• Only two tight ends in the FBS, Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr. (72), and Ball State’s Tanner Koziol (69) have been targeted more often than Loveland (52) this season.
• Loveland’s 97 career receptions rank fourth all-time among U-M tight ends. With two more catches, he’ll pass Jerame Tuman (98) third-most all-time. Loveland’s 1,228 career receiving yards are fifth all-time among tight ends at U-M (next: Lowell Perry, 1,261), and his eight touchdowns are tied-seventh.
• Opponents have struggled to run the ball effectively against the Wolverines (92.1 yards per game). Teams are averaging 3.3 yards per carry overall on the Maize and Blue’s ninth-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), and U-M has not allowed another 100-yard rusher since.
• Zeke Berry (one interception, one fumble forced/recovered) is tied with Will Johnson (two interceptions) for the team lead in turnovers. Six different players are responsible for U-M’s eight total turnovers (two fumble recoveries, six interceptions).
• Sixteen (16) different players have broken up passes for the defense this year including six different defensive linemen/edge rushers. Jyaire Hill leads the team with seven (including one interception) and Kenneth Grant leads all defensive linemen with has four.
• Grant has been active in this area throughout his career; he had six breakups in 2023, giving him 10 for his career, the highest total among any U-M defensive linemen in history. Across 2023 and 2024 combined, the defensive line has been responsible for more than a quarter (26.1 percent) of the team’s total pass breakups (10-of-38 in 2024; 18-of-69 in 2023).
• Ernest Hausmann leads the U-M defense with 45 tackles, eight clear of the next-highest total. Hausmann set a Michigan career-high with 12 tackles at Washington, matching his best career total at Nebraska, and registered nine solos against Minnesota, also a Michigan-best.
• The Wolverines rank 29th nationally in sacks (2.57 per game), led by Josaiah Stewart‘s 5.5. Stewart ranks second in the Big Ten with one fewer game played; Graham ranks 12th (3.5).
• Stewart has two multi-sack games this season (Fresno State, USC, 2.0 each) and is PFF’s No. 1-graded pass rusher at any position at 93.7. His win rate of 28.0 percent is No. 3 in the nation (minimum 60 pass rush snaps). TJ Guy (21.8, eighth) and Derrick Moore (84.6, 15th) are also among the nation’s best in pass rush win rate.
• U-M co-leads the Big Ten in sacks (14) and leads outright in tackles for loss (31.0) in conference play, with at least four sacks in three of four league games so far.
• Tommy Doman is the tied-fifth-graded punter in the nation by PFF (79.9) among those with at least 18 attempts. The 16 fair catches he’s forced are four off the national lead and two off the Big Ten lead.
• Doman is also a weapon on kickoffs, with 22 touchbacks on 32 kickoffs (68.8 percent). U-M is 14th in the nation in kick return defense (15.8 yards per return, on average).
• Doman, whose pro-style approach meshes hangtime with distance to give U-M effective coverage units, ranks eighth in the country and second in the Big Ten in average hangtime (4.26 seconds) among punters with 18-plus attempts.
• Dominic Zvada is a perfect eight-for-eight this year. Zvada is tied for the U-M career record with four made field goals at 50-plus yards and is the first U-M kicker with four field goals of 50-plus yards in the same season.
• Zvada is one of five kickers with four or more conversions at 50-plus yards, but only one of two (FSU’s Ryan Fitzgerald) who has gone four-for-four on such kicks.
• U-M’s special teams units have now blocked a kick in three straight games: one punt (vs. Minnesota) and two field goals (at Washington, at Illinois).
