Play The House: Has Michigan found its footing?

Hey, everybody. I’m publishing a little early this week because I’m going to be super busy on Friday and Saturday - hopefully you don’t mind.

A technical note for you this week - this is the last go-round where negative weekly totals do not have an impact on season-long standings. Against Wisconsin, OSU, and then in the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff that Michigan will be participating in, it is possible to lose points. So be careful.

More seriously, negative weekly numbers have gotten fairly uncommon as players have gotten the hang of all my predictions, so I’m not sure that this will produce the chaos that I originally envisioned when I laid out the late-season chaos rule. But it’s worth making a note of it as we head toward Michigan’s upcoming national title victory.

Hey, let me dream, damn it.

Michigan Wolverines: Pass Offense

Brandon Peters: 116 passing yards

Donovan Peoples-Jones: 35 receiving yards

Sean McKeon: 27 receiving yards

Zach Gentry: 24 receiving yards

Nico Collins: 16 receiving yards

Grant Perry: 10 receiving yards

Karan Higdon: 4 receiving yards

Notable zeroes: John O’Korn, Alex Malzone, Ty Isaac, Chris Evans, Kekoa Crawford, Nick Eubanks, Ty Wheatley, Nate Schoenle, Maurice Ways, Oliver Martin, & Drake Harris

I’m not sure if it’s injuries or something else, but Minnesota did not see much or any of Grant Perry, Kekoa Crawford, John O’Korn, Ty Isaac, Kareem Walker, Ty Wheatley, and Nick Eubanks. Late against Minnesota, Alex Malzone was in instead of O’Korn. Meanwhile, Kekoa Crawford has not put up any stats in the last two games.

It seems that Michigan’s coaches have shortened their rotation a little bit while also trying to give some new faces a chance to perform over guys who have already gotten their shot and not produced. But there’s also the possibility of injuries, so I’m just spitballing as to the reasons for offensive rotation.

Michigan Wolverines: Run Offense

Karan Higdon: 128 rushing yards

Chris Evans: 79 rushing yards

Ty Isaac: 37 rushing yards

Eddie McDoom: 5 rushing yards

Khalid Hill: 3 rushing yards

Brandon Peters: -13 rushing yards

Notable zeroes: Kareem Walker, DPJ, Henry Poggi, O’Maury Samuels, Kurt Taylor, Ben Mason

Isaac and Walker combined for 0 carries against Minnesota, but both had good games a week before against Rutgers - 14 carries for 109 yards for Isaac, 6 carries for 34 yards for Walker.

Walker seemed to sprain his ankle late in that game, though, and that can take a couple or a few weeks to heal. O’Maury Samuels could get some carries in his absence; he’s had 6 carries for 8 yards the last two weeks, a clip of 1.3 yards a tote.

DPJ has had two rushing attempts in nine games; Eddie McDoom, meanwhile, has had four straight games with a rushing attempt, and has gotten rushing yardage in six of nine games this season.

Score & totals

Michigan pass offense: 116 passing yards

Michigan run offense: 239 rushing yards

Michigan total offense: 355 total yards

Maryland pass offense: 42 passing yards

Maryland run offense: 112 rushing yards

Maryland total offense: 154 total yards

Michigan: 39 points

Maryland: 13 points

Please ignore that I predicted 42 passing yards and 112 rushing yards for the Rutgers game, as well. Hey, I said don’t notice that!

Anyway, Maryland is currently 113th in passing offense and 56th in rushing offense. Their offense has been relatively good at scoring (55th) for how many yards they put up (112th). For more stats, click here.

Remember: please include your username in with your three guesses. For the rules, click here. Thanks, and good luck.