The Michigan football team kicks off the 2024-25 season and defense of their National Championship at 7:30 p.m. on Friday against visiting Fresno State. Here are some interesting facts, figures and fortunes to consider before kickoff.
For starters, the Wolverines have been ranked in the top 10 of the polls for 44 straight rankings and enter the 2024 season at No. 8 in the Associated Press poll.
- U-M’s 2024 schedule is among the nation’s most challenging, featuring four foes in the preseason AP Top 25: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Texas, and No. 23 USC.
- The 2023 season was the winningest in Michigan history. U-M’s 28 wins over the past two seasons (2022-23) and 40 wins over the past three seasons (2021-22-23) are program records over two- and three-year stretches.
- Michigan finished the year with top-12 PFF grades and ranks in 10 of 13 major team categories: overall team, No. 1 (95.0), offense, tied-No. 5 (90.9), passing, No. 11 (86.4), receiving, No. 6 (86.2), run-blocking, No. 9, (73.5), defense, No. 1 (95.0), run defense, No. 2 (93.0), tackling, No. 2 (91.2), pass rush, tied-No. 3 (91.2), and pass coverage, No. 1 (92.7).
- The Wolverines return 36 percent of their total production from last season, according to ESPN.com’s Bill Connelly (SP+). That figure ranks seventh-lowest in the FBS (128th of 134). That includes 24 percent of production on offense (132nd) and 47 percent on defense (109th).
- The following players were named to 2024 Preseason Award Watch Lists: Donovan Edwards, Colston Loveland, Semaj Morgan, Alex Orji, Davis Warren on offense; Jaishawn Barham, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Will Johnson on defense; William Wagner and Dominic Zvada as specialists.
- Graham, Loveland, and Johnson each earned preseason All-America honors (first team) from at least two outlets.
- Running back Donovan Edwards enters the season as U-M’s leading rusher with 1,662 career rushing yards on 294 carries with 15 touchdowns. He has six career 100-yard rush games with one game over 200 rushing yards and four games with multiple rushing touchdowns.
- Edwards ranks tied-fourth among running backs in all-time receptions (68), 15 shy of B.J. Askew for third all-time. He is fourth in receiving yards by a running back with 714 yards, just 96 shy of the career record held by Anthony Thomas (810).
- Edwards has averaged 10.5 yards per catch during his career, which ranks second all-time among running backs with at least 40 catches (Glenn Doughty, 12.6 on 41 receptions). Edwards is one of just three backs in Michigan history with at least that many receptions to average at least 10 yards per catch (Clarence Williams, 10.0 on 68 receptions).
- Last January, Edwards became the first player in CFP National Title Game history to run for two touchdowns of 40-plus yards with his 41- and 46-yard scores in the first half against the Huskies. They were the second- and third-longest touchdown runs in CFP National Title Game history (Derrick Henry, 50 yards vs. Clemson, Jan. 11, 2016).
- Tight end Colston Loveland was one of three Wolverine pass catchers to finish last season among the Big Ten’s leaders in yards per route run (minimum 36 targets). Loveland (2.38) ranked third among tight ends nationally, finishing fifth in the Big Ten among pass catchers.
- Loveland built on his freshman season totals (16 catches, 235 yards, two touchdowns) with a receiving line of 45 catches, 649 yards, and four touchdowns in 2023. One more touchdown will tie him with Luke Schoonmaker (seven) for the 10th-most in a career by a U-M tight end.
- Loveland finished fifth in receiving yards by a tight end across the NCAA in 2023 (649) and fourth in single-season Michigan history. For his career, Loveland’s 884 receiving yards rank ninth at Michigan. With 116 yards he could be the sixth U-M tight end to reach 1,000 career yards and he’ll need 954 yards to match Jake Butt (1,646 career yards) for the most in a career at U-M.
- Loveland (12 receiving), Tyler Morris (five receiving, three returns), Semaj Morgan (three receiving, one rushing, five returns), Edwards (four rushing, two receiving), and Kalel Mullings (two rushing, one return) recorded the most explosive plays (20-plus yards) during the 2023 season among 2024 offensive returners.
- The top returning tacklers to the 2024 defense are Rod Moore (141), Makari Paige (90), and Ernest Hausmann (100 career tackles; 46 at Michigan).
- Among new defenders who arrived via the transfer portal, Wesley Walker leads with 185 career tackles in 46 games (25 starts) at Georgia Tech (2020-21) and Tennessee (2022-23). Aamir Hall made 151 stops in 39 games at Richmond (24) and Albany (15) and Jaishawn Barham racked up 95 stops in 23 games at Maryland (2022-23).
- Defensive back Will Johnson, a first-team All-American last season, leads the secondary with 21 career pass breakups including seven interceptions. Hall also has seven career picks (five at Albany) while Rod Moore has six.
- U-M’s defensive line will be a strength in 2024. Mason Graham, a second-team All-American last year, leads the group with 63 career tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
- Josaiah Stewart leads the returning edge players with 21.5 career sacks (5.5 at Michigan) and 34 tackles for loss (8.5 at Michigan). Derrick Moore (7.0 career sacks, one forced fumble, one recovered for touchdown) is another edge returner with career production.
- Defensive linemen accounted for 16 of the team’s 69 pass breakups last year, led by Kenneth Grant’s five, plus two of the team’s 18 interceptions (26.1 percent of all breakups/interceptions).
- Punter Tommy Doman averaged 4.33 seconds of hangtime per attempt last year, the second-best average of any punter in the country (minimum one punt per game), and the best in the Big Ten.
- Doman registered at least one punt at or inside the opponent’s 12-yard line in six of the final seven games of the year, including four punts inside the five-yard line. His 2023 average of 44.26 yards per attempt ranks fifth among single-season averages all-time at Michigan.
- The Wolverines finished among the best kickoff return defense units in the country, allowing 16.53 yards per return attempt (18th, NCAA). Doman delivered 68 touchbacks and forced 10 fair catches on 99 kickoffs this season, meaning no returns were permitted on 78.7 percent of kickoffs.
