The Wolverines’ annual scrimmage will try to deceive optimistic eyes.
Spring games are a tradition unlike any other. A few months have passed and the tears have dried on another season that has fallen short and optimism is running anew with the hope of a better result on the horizon. The resilient ethos of “We’ll get ‘em next year” slowly creeps into every fanbase around this time of the year and before transforming into full-fledged “HELL YEAH IT’S OUR YEAR” after the demolition of an FCS opponent in Week 1 (Go Buffs).
But this year, the feeling is unlike any other for fans of the Michigan Wolverines . The tears have still dried, but these tears are more akin to the end of Shawshank than A Star is Born. Michigan is fresh off an undefeated, 15-0, national championship season which included its third straight victory over Ohio State and third straight Big Ten Championship. Former head coach Jim Harbaugh used to semi-rhetorically ask, “Who’s got it better than us?” and by the end of last season, “NOOO-BODY” was more of an answer of fact than a post-game rallying cry.
The confetti has been cleaned up, a plethora of starters from Team 144 are off to pursue NFL dreams, and Harbaugh has moved back to the West Coast. The Michigan spring game this season isn’t just representative of the beginning of a new chapter, it is the beginning of a new book under head coach Sherrone Moore.
What will this book entail? Success? Failure? Another national title? The first sneak-peak will come at the spring game, but be aware that the spring game is to be enjoyed, not to be trusted.
The Michigan spring game is the purveyor of false truths; a sleight-of-hand game that shows you one thing while disclosing another. In 2017, quarterback Brandon Peters looked like the future. 2019 saw linebacker Jordan Anthony deliver a HIM performance. 2022 Rod Moore looked JACKED – apologies to God Moore, but this was more of a result of five Bloody Marys and a double espresso at the Big House and I was simply confusing Rod for early-enrollee freshman Derrick Moore. Happens to the best of us.
Rare truths will be delivered as well – think Devin Bush in 2017 playing like the combination of Ray Lewis and T-Rex with a machine gun, but most of the time the truths are far less obvious. To prepare you for the 2024 spring game, let’s run through a few of the lies and truths that we were told last year.
Benjamin Hall will be RB3
RB3 sounds like a dubious honor or a mild take, but Michigan fans knew how valuable one could be in this offense. Think of 2021 when freshman Donovan Edwards contributed almost 500 yards of offense and four touchdowns in the backup’s backup role. It’s hard to beat the energy surrounding an exciting freshman and Benjamin Hall appeared to be next.
Hall’s 13-carry, 102-yard, one-touchdown performance, echoed Edwards, but Hall looked even more advanced with his vision and footwork only a few months into his collegiate career. Perhaps Hall was oddly too good for a diminished role — which sounds dumb on the surface, but taking more touches away from the talented Edwards could have led him to the transfer portal — so Harbaugh decided to redshirt the youngster and preserve his eligibility for a bigger role in the future. Or with a team capable of winning it all, Harbaugh simply trusted the veteran reliability of Kalel Mullings compared to an 18-year-old.
Whatever the reason, Hall was not a factor in 2023 – 15 carries for 69 yards in three games – but another talented runner was and he provided the first glimpse in the spring game.
As a freshman, quarterback Alex Orji had shown competency as a runner, but most didn’t expect him to evolve into a full-blown locomotive. Orji only rushed the ball for 19 yards in the spring game, but he did score one touchdown, threw for another, and ran over safety R.J. Moten so emphatically that Moten moved to Florida – similar energy to Red running to his car in Friday.
Orji’s change-of-pace ability was the exact pitch Michigan needed to keep in its back pocket for crunch time. Think of the second-half opening drive against Ohio State — the Wolverines pick up 46 yards and kick a 50-yard field goal to extend its lead to seven. Orji accounted for 22 of those yards, all of which helped fuel a six-point victory and all of which still keep Jim Knowles up at night.
WR Peyton O’Leary will be a guy
A great trivia question for the true Michigan football sickos among us is, “Which skill position player led the Wolverines in yards in the 2023 spring game?” Peyton “The Banshee” O’Leary’s six catches for 126 yards will live in scrimmage and trivia history, and he seemed destined to be a contributor in the fall.
The Banshee had demonstrated great body control and a knack for making tough catches. Unfortunately, a combination of untimely injuries and the ascension of Tyler Morris and Semaj Morgan limited O’Leary to two catches for 13 yards and one garbage-time touchdown.
Although The Banshee was never able to capitalize on his spring momentum, he did expose a harsh truth in the spring game: Amorion Walker was not a starting corner.
O’Leary put Walker and all of the off-season hype surrounding the transitioning corner into a blender and hit “puree.” At a certain point, it was hard to not feel bad for Walker, but this exposure prompted the Wolverines to search for a corner in the transfer portal and ultimately bring in UMass transfer Josh Wallace.
Wallace became an integral part of the best secondary in the country and served as the perfect Robin to Will Johnson’s Batman on the boundary. Without The Banshee haunting Walker, does Michigan even look for Wallace?
Kechaun Bennett will crack the edge rotation
This one is more of a personal atonement because following the game I spoke with conviction on Out of the Blue that Bennett would be an impactful name in the fall. I was wrong.
Last year, Kechaun Bennett only registered three tackles but did record one of only two quarterback hits in the game. Bennett was flying around the field for his size (6’4, nearly 260 pounds) and was constantly blowing up plays. The junior showcased an explosive burst off the line of scrimmage and a high-motor that is usually seen in rotational edge defenders.
However, Bennett only appeared in 11 games in 2023 and registered as many tackles in the entire season as he did in the spring game. The edge truth that came from the spring game was the rise of Josaiah Stewart.
Beyond stuffing the stat sheet – five tackles, one sack, two tackles-for-loss – Stewart demonstrated the fastest first step on the team and an elite bend to help him turn the corner faster when rushing the passer. Moreover, the undersized Coastal Carolina transfer answered the biggest question surrounding his arrival to Ann Arbor: Can Stewart hold up against Big Ten offensive linemen?
The power of Stewart’s game was immediately evident as he set an edge like a player 30 pounds heavier. This was perhaps the biggest unveiled truth from the entire game last season and one that directly translated to Stewart using Alabama’s J.C. Latham to tackle Jalen Milroe to win the Rose Bowl .
Michigan football is back in our lives next week and at this time of the year, it is meant to simply be enjoyed. Parsing through the lies is half the fun, just be careful planting your flag too deep on uncertain soil. The truth is out there you just need to know where to look. And how to pace Bloody Marys.