Angelique S. ChengelisThe Detroit News
Michigan certainly hasn’t had the toughest non-conference schedule over the last few years, and last season during the Wolverines’ national championship run, things didn’t get challenging in Big Ten play until the final month.
That changes this fall. Michigan will open with five straight home games, but the non-conference schedule is upgraded in terms of toughness, starting off with a Fresno State team that should not be underestimated. And then things get even more challenging for first-year Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines when College Football Playoff semifinalist Texas comes to town.
There are so many more moving parts on college football teams these days in terms of the transfer portal with multi-year starters at one school, not playing at another. With that in mind, here’s a look at Michigan’s opponents, after spring practice:
Fresno State
Michigan will get its money’s worth — it paid Fresno State $1.85 million for this game — in terms of a tough opening opponent. The Bulldogs finished 9-4 last season, including a bowl victory, in Jeff Tedford’s second season as head coach. They were ranked among the nation’s top 25 three times. They’re led by quarterback Mikey Keene, who transferred from UCF before the 2023 season and completed 67% of his passes for 2,976 yards and 24 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. He was All-Mountain West honorable mention. While Michigan finished first in turnover margin last year, Fresno State tied for 13th and was plus-nine — the Bulldogs lost two fumbles. Fresno State returns 14 starters, including eight on offense and five on defense and added some key transfers. Former Idaho State receiver Chedon James, who had 1,045 yards on 102 catches and scored eight touchdowns in 11 games, ranked No. 1 in the FCS in total receptions and No. 4 in receiving yards, is expected to play a big role in the offense. The Bulldogs added former USC defensive tackle Dejon Laffitte, USC defensive end Korey Foreman and San Jose State transfer tackle Jairus Satele.
Texas
The Longhorns are coming off a 12-win season and a spot in the College Football Playoff under coach Steve Sarkisian. This should be a highly effective offense again with veteran quarterback Quinn Ewers leading the way behind a veteran line. This will be Ewers’ third season as the starter and last season, he threw for 3,479 yards and 22 touchdowns. Yes, Arch Manning is in the mix, but this is Ewers’ job. Receivers Xavier Worthy and AD Mitchell are gone, but the Longhorns added Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond, who was the first Crimson Tide player to enter the portal after Nick Saban announced his retirement. Bond had 98 receiving yards in the spring game. Defensively, Texas has room to grow. There are some potential depth issues on the defensive line, but the pass rush has received high marks coming out of the spring, after notably being unable to get to Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., in the national semifinals. Improving the secondary was a focal point after the defense ranked 113th nationally against the pass, allowing an average of 254.4 yards.
Arkansas State
Butch Jones, a familiar name in this area, is entering his fourth season at Arkansas State. Jones, who graduated from Ferris State, was head coach at Central Michigan (2007-09), before moving to Cincinnati and then Tennessee and last season Jones led Arkansas State to its first bowl game since 2019. The team finished 6-7. Sophom*ore quarterback Jaylen Raynor returns after earning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year last season and will have the luxury of two home games before heading to Ann Arbor. In the spring game, he was 11-of-23 for 217 yards and three touchdowns. The Red Wolves added 6-foot-5 transfer receiver Reginald Harden Jr., and have a running back duo in Ja’Quez Cross and Zak Wallace, who combined to run for nearly 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns. Only six starters return on defense, including All-Sun Belt linebacker Charles Willekes
USC
Michigan will be the inaugural Big Ten game for newcomer USC, which was 8-5 last season and lost three of its last four but won the Holiday Bowl. Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, didn’t play in the bowl game, which gave Miller Moss the opportunity to lead the offense. Moss was 23-of-33 for 372 yards and six touchdowns in his first start and was the Holiday Bowl Offensive MVP. Defense has been an issue for the Trojans. Last season, they finished 116th nationally, yielding an average of 432.8 yards and allowed 34.4 points. D’Anton Lynn, formerly UCLA’s defensive coordinator, was hired to revamp USC’s defense. He’s had success and that showed at UCLA, which he elevated from the bottom third nationally to No. 11 last season.
Minnesota
The Gophers did not have a public spring game this year, in part because head coach P.J. Fleck wanted to keep things under wraps. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who started 17 games for the Gophers, has transferred to Rutgers, and now it appears New Hampshire grad transfer Max Brosner will take over.
Brosmer, who will be a captain, was among the most highly-ranked FCS quarterbacks last season. He threw for 3,449 yards and had 29 touchdowns and five interceptions, helping make the Wildcats the fifth-highest-scoring offense in the FCS. Fleck made some staff changes in the offseason, hiring Corey Hetherman, previously the linebackers coach at Rutgers, as defensive coordinator/linebacker coach and also added Bob Ligasheksy as the new special teams coordinator. Minnesota has to fill the huge hole left by All-America safety Tyler Nubin.
Washington
Michigan’s first road game of the season will be at Washington, the team the Wolverines beat for the national championship. So much has changed since then, including both teams having new head coaches. When Kalen DeBoer left the Huskies for Alabama, former Arizona coach Jedd Fisch, also formerly Michigan'ss pass-game coordinator and quarterback/receivers coach (2015-16), was hired. Fisch has a big-name staff with a Belichick and a Carroll, the sons of NFL coaches Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll. Steve Belichick is the defensive coordinator and Brennan Carroll the offensive coordinator. The spring was about finding a replacement for prolific quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers had transferred to Washington and briefly entered the portal when DeBoer left but will play his final season for the Huskies. Rogers made 40 starts at Mississippi State, where he became the program's all-time leader with 12,315 passing yards and 94 touchdowns. Washington has solid running backs in Cam Davis and Arizona transfer Jonah Coleman. The Huskies’ defense wasn’t its strength, and while the linebackers shouldn’t be an issue this fall, they’re thin at safety. They received an important addition with defensive lineman Sebastian Valdez, an All-Big Sky selection from Montana State.
Illinois
The Illini, who went 5-7 last year, will be without top defensive players tackle Johnny Newton and defensive lineman Keith Randolph Jr. That’s a lot of talent to replace. Junior quarterback Luke Altmyer, who transferred to Illinois from Ole Miss before the 2023 season, is expected to be the starter this fall. He started in nine games last season and was 175-of-270 for 1,883 yards and had 13 touchdowns. Illinois is hopeful for the return of sophom*ore defensive back Matthew Bailey, who missed nearly the entire 2023 season because of an ankle injury. He played in all 13 games as a freshman and had three interceptions, 10 tackles and a fumble recovery.
MSU
First-year Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith, the former Oregon State coach, was followed to East Lansing by some key talent, especially projected starting quarterback Aidan Chiles. In the spring game, he was 7-of-14 for 106 yards and a touchdown. He also had a 17-yard scramble in the third quarter for a first down. He played behind an offensive line that improved throughout spring practice. Freshman receiver Nick Marsh also played well this spring. Running back Nate Carter has enjoyed his work in this offense and said after the spring that it will allow him to be more versatile. Smith intended the spring game to be vanilla, especially on defense, under new defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. Where Smith said he saw improvement on defense was in the communication.
Oregon
The Ducks, coached by Dan Lanning, are considered among the nation’s top teams this season. They’ve gone 22-5 the last two seasons under his direction and won back-to-back bowl games. Quarterback Bo Nix is gone, and now former Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel is taking over for his final season. Among his targets will be receivers Evan Stewart, a transfer from Texas A&M, and Tez Johnson. Running back Jordan James returns after rushing for 759 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. The Ducks led the Pac-12 in pass defense last season and added transfer defensive backs Kobe Savage (safety) and Jabbar Muhammad (cornerback).
Indiana
This is the first season for head coach Curt Cignetti at Indiana and the early read on the team out of spring practice is that the Hoosiers have a decent running game, which would be a big change from last year’s inconsistency. The three main backs in the spring were Kaelon Black, Justice Ellison, and Ty Son Lawton, and they benefited from solid blocking from the offensive line. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who made 33 starts at Ohio and was a Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a junior, had 8,479 career all-purpose yards (7,651 passing) and accounted for 61 touchdowns (50 passing, 11 rushing). He rushed for 1,240 career yards on 232 carries and 11 touchdowns. He also caught three career passes for 62 yards. The defense showed improvement in the spring, but depth could be a problem this fall.
Northwestern
Quarterback Mike Wright chose Vanderbilt over Northwestern as a three-star prospect coming out of high school, and after three years with the Commodores and then a season at Mississippi State, he’s now a Wildcat and the projected starter with one year of eligibility. Wright has started 14 games during his career and has thrown for 3,749 total yards and 34 touchdowns. He also competed on Mississippi State’s track team on the 4×200 relay team. Since 2018, Northwestern has started a transfer quarterback in every season opener. The defensive line returns pretty much everyone from last season and at linebacker, the Wildcats added transfer Noah Taylor.
Ohio State
Head coach Ryan Day made some big changes in the offseason, including hiring Chip Kelly to handle the offensive play-calling. There will be a new quarterback in Columbus with Kansas State transfer Will Howard the projected starter. Howard played in 34 games for Kansas State over four seasons (2020-23) and threw for 5,786 yards and accounted for 67 total touchdowns (48 passing, 19 rushing).
Last season, he completed 61% of his passes for 2,643 yards and 24 touchdowns and had nine rushing touchdowns. Ohio State made other big pickups in the transfer portal, including former Alabama safety Caleb Downs and Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins.
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
