Yes! No. Maybe? Week 8 an 0-5 showing across Michigan’s FBS teams
While losing always stings, a few teams are probably feeling better about their performances on the whole than some in-state counterparts.
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FBS teams from the state of Michigan: 0-5 on Saturday.
So, if you turned off the game and bagged up those leaves, you’re forgiven. Michigan and Western Michigan both opened the day at noon with very different games that were ultimately decided by a late touchdown, as Indiana outlasted Michigan in a defensive struggle for a 13-6 overtime win and Toledo outraced Western Michigan in a 45-38 track meet.
Central Michigan lost by a point, 28-27, to Miami (OH), on a last-minute touchdown and has now lost three-straight as MAC contention is largely out of the question. Michigan State and Eastern Michigan closed the day out for Mitten teams in the mid-afternoon window, as the Eagles lost a tight game at Ohio, 24-20, with backup quarterback Brogan McCaughey starting for an injured Noah Kim. Michigan State, without starting QB Alessio Milivojevic or backup Cam Fancher, started true freshman Kayd Coffman against UCLA in a 28-10 loss at the Rose Bowl.
And while it was an 0-5 day, it was not all bleak. Let’s unpack the highlights, lowlights, and what lies in between from Week 8.
Yes!
WMU WR Aveion Chenault: Chenault quietly caught an impressive contested pass down the sideline vs. Central Michigan a weekend ago, fighting over CMU DB Jaion Jackson, which feels like it deserves acknowledgment here. Now, despite the loss, Chenault was again sharpe on Saturday vs. Toledo, catching six passes for 105 yards and a touchdown, including a 49-yarder. Chenault is someone Western Michigan was very excited about a year ago as a true freshman, and he’s blossomed quickly into one of the best receivers in the MAC. He’s gone over 100 yards twice and is an all-around playmaker, who helps WMU be a much more threatening, complete offense. Keeping him from the portal will be a big priority for WMU, as is the reality in college football these days.
Michigan’s defense: There aren’t five defenses better in college football right now. Michigan’s defensive backfield, in particular, played at an elite level against Indiana a week after Chris Bracy was a one-man wrecking crew from his safety spot vs. Penn State. Michigan allowed just 81 passing yards vs. Josh Hoover and Indiana’s vaunted receiver pairing of Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh combined on five catches for 57 yards. Zeke Berry intercepted Hoover for the first time all season. And the Wolverines have yet to give up more than 20 points in a game this season. Indiana would’ve been shutout in regulation if Michigan hadn’t gifted the Hoosiers two possessions in scoring range via turnovers, setting up for a pair of field goals. This group is giving Michigan every chance to win, and then some.
Eastern Michigan’s run defense: The Eagles held Ohio to 90 rushing yards. It’s the first time Ohio failed to clear 100 rushing yards in a game since 2023, as the EMU defense came up with the sort of gum-up-the-works performance it needed to have a shot to beat Ohio on the road. And while the Eagles didn’t pull off the win, the defense only gave up a shade more than 350 yards total, as the Bobcats were generally kept at bay. The EMU defense also came up with the first touchdown of the day for the Eagles, a sack-fumble by Ronn Hardin, scooped and scored by Aaron Kearse. The Eagles defense showed up, shut down the Ohio run game, and gave EMU a chance in a tough road spot with a backup QB at the helm.
Austin Alexander, WMU pass rush: Western Michigan is up to No. 25 nationally with 19 sacks on the season, with 16 of them coming during the last four games since conference play started. WMU tacked on three more vs. Toledo in a loss as the havoc reigned for the Broncos. And leading that charge was Austin Alexander, who had 2.5 sacks, including a sack-fumble on Toledo QB John Alan Richter, one of two forced fumbles for WMU on the day. The Broncos in total had seven tackles for loss, as the defensive front has come to life since conference play began. It didn’t result in a win on Saturday, as WMU is now 3-1 in the league, but the sort of pressure and havoc the Western Michigan front can produce will help the Broncos win a lot of games the rest of the way if it keeps up like it’s been going.
Eastern Michigan, Brogan McCaughey’s late push: Eastern Michigan seemed to finally be falling behind, expectedly, with a backup quarterback and strong defensive performance running out of steam as Ohio took a 17-13 lead with :26 left in the third quarter. A three-and-out from the Brogan McCaughey-led EMU offense seemed to confirm that idea. But the defense came up with another stop, the offense got the ball at its 1 yard line, and the magic began. McCaughey first marshaled a 99-yard touchdown drive to put EMU ahead, hitting Joey Mattord on a 24-yard touchdown pass on a wheel route from the backfield. Ohio returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD, what proved to be the decisive score in a 24-20 win, but the Eagles weren’t deterred in mounting another last-gasp drive over the final minutes, getting to the Ohio 4 yard line with 1st and goal with under :30 to play. The Eagles just couldn’t get it over the finish line, but it was a valiant effort by McCaughey and Co.
Andrew Graham
No.
Western Michigan’s defense on the whole: Give up 595 yards, 45 points and 32 first downs as a defense, end up here. The Broncos came up with the havoc it needed to have a chance to win in a shootout, but got in a shootout as the Toledo offense sliced-and-diced on a down-to-down basis (6.8 yards per play). Quarterback John Alan Richter completed 71 percent of his passes for 391 yards and a trio of touchdowns, plus an interception, and the Rockets rushed for 204 yards and three more touchdowns, paced by CJ Miller’s 183. Toledo also went 5-of-10 on third downs and scored on all seven of its red zone trips. The havoc was there for WMU, and it really was enough to have a chance to win, but just one or two more stops also could’ve made the difference.
Michigan’s run game, offense: Woof. This offense is just plain old bad. The talent is better than this, as evidenced by the regression of players like Jordan Marshall and Andrew Marsh, and potential answers are starting to dwindle. A quarterback swap didn’t solve anything, as Tommy Carr looked like a relatively promising young quarterback who isn’t ready to start, because that’s exactly what he is. He, and Bryce Underwood, have struggled to have success for Michigan this year, and while the quarterbacks drink up the attention, the run game has withered and may be the biggest culprit for Michigan’s offensive impotence. The Wolverines had 57 yards vs. Indiana. And the bottom line is this offense can’t keep weighing down the Wolverines and what is a championship-caliber defense.
Andrew Graham
Michigan State’s health: It’s very hard to win football games with the sort of injury-riddled season Michigan State has had. Just since conference play began, 21 different players have been out for MSU due to injuries. Some have been short term, some have come and gone on the injury report. But it all cost MSU on the field. Injuries to the cornerback room, linebackers, and now the running back room, increasingly, and quarterbacks Alessio Milivojevic and Cam Fancher have scuttled MSU’s ability to field a competitive team. And as much as it’s about losing talented and experienced snaps, the injury churn hurts continuity and developing cohesion on the field.
Eastern Michigan’s health: What’s true for MSU is true for EMU, as the churn of players in and out of the lineup or missing the bulk of the year, like linebacker Barry Manning, has started to show its strain as EMU has lost its last two games to fall to 3-2 in the MAC and 4-5 overall. And not that it's a competition, but 48 different players have been out on the MAC availability reports on gamedays for EMU this season. Many of those players have been reserves but there’s a plethora of injuries to starters and key role players that have hampered an EMU roster that is, seemingly, rather complete if healthy. The latest injury turn, QB Noah Kim being out vs. Ohio, is just salt in the wound.
Central Michigan’s MAC contention hopes: Falling to 1-3 in league play going into the mini-bye before MACtion, Central Michigan won’t be one of the two teams playing at Ford Field come early December. This is a team that had ideas of being in the mix for the league, and this recent three-game stretch at Ohio, vs. Western Michigan and vs. Miami (OH) presented CMU the chance to seize control of its fate in the MAC. The Chippewas went 0-3 in those games, including a pair of home losses. The Chippewas have enough juice to not finish in the bottom of the MAC, and some more winnable games are ahead, but now it’s about making a bowl game and finishing strong through the balance of league play. There’s a lot of useful development and evaluation to be done, still, too.
Maybe?
CMU QB Jadyn Glasser: It was a spot-start that turned into, presumably, his role to lose as head coach Matt Drinkall revealed postgame that Angel Flores, along with concussion protocol this week, underwent ankle surgery after discovering something wrong. Glasser went 18-of-31 for 221 yards and a touchdown while mostly being a non-factor in the run game. It’s fairly evident that Glasser has a more live arm than Flores, but the Chippewas will probably need to either coax more out of him as a runner or massage the run game to better fit the quarterback that’s starting. Marcus Beamon also becomes a factor in this all, too. But Glasser gave Central Michigan every ability to win with his play on Saturday, and will now get a chance to build on his performance, starting on Nov. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan at Ford Field.
Andrew Graham
Central Michigan’s defense: Amidst the consternation about CMU’s offense in recent weeks, some troublesome defensive performances might’ve not been as magnified. The first was the first half vs. Ohio, when the Chippewas got rolled over by the Bobcats. That was followed by allowing touchdowns on three-straight drives vs. WMU, which put the Chippewas in a 21-0 hole at the time. The 28 points allowed on Saturday in a loss to Miami (OH) isn’t a disastrous day, and the Chippewas came up with a number of game-swinging plays, namely turnovers like Justin Taylor’s pick-six. The main culprit of late is a rushing defense that’s not holding up, as CMU ranks No. 111. When this group is being disruptive, sacking the opposing quarterback, taking the ball away, and, as they like to say, doing their jobs, the Central Michigan defense can be nightmarish. It flashed a bit more of that on Saturday, but hasn’t been consistent enough of late.
Michigan State’s hard-to-kill defense is finally wiped out: It’s an immense credit to Joe Rossi that the Michigan State defense has shown up each week and fought while playing decently connected defense for how injured the group is. It might finally be too much, though, if Ben Roberts and Devin Vaught have to miss extended time at the end of the season on top of the myriad injuries to the cornerbacks and linebackers. Roberts’ injury is particularly crushing, as he’s arguably MSU’s best defender — undoubtedly so when Jordan Hall isn’t playing — and something of an emotional center for the group. And Vaught has just been such a reliable tackler and burgeoning playmaker. At a certain point, the dam breaks in terms of the ability to even make things difficult for opposing offenses.
A Western Michigan-Toledo rematch: Saturday’s result is disappointing for Western Michigan, but at 3-1 in the MAC, the Broncos are still in good shape. The league is full of surprises, but WMU should be a distinct favorite in the rest of its games, even Miami (OH) as the RedHawks have navigated quarterback injuries. And Toledo is now on level with WMU in the league standings, 3-1. Both of them trail Ohio, which is 4-0, but the Bobcats finish the year against Toledo — it’s quite possible the Broncos and Rockets meet again at Ford Field, both 7-1 in the league. And after the show they put on, scoring a combined 83 points, who wouldn’t want a second helping? (Well, Ohio wouldn’t, among a few other MAC contenders.)
Michigan’s defense can drag team to bowl: The final five games of the season for Michigan are at Rutgers, vs. MSU, at Oregon, vs. UCLA, at Ohio State. The Wolverines need to win two of them to get to six wins and qualify for a bowl game. Rutgers and Michigan State are in the basement of the Big Ten, with Michigan, and Oregon isn’t too far ahead and looks very mortal of late (and fired its offensive coordinator Sunday). Then comes a UCLA team that doesn’t seem to be slowing down despite a quarterback injury and Ohio State, also dealing with a quarterback injury, follows. Rutgers’ only conference win is vs. Maryland, MSU is incredibly banged up, though the rivalry always portends weirdness, and Oregon is vulnerable; UCLA and Ohio State will be tougher outs. With how good Michigan’s defense has been, can UM muster just enough offense to best two of those five, at least? The Wolverines haven’t allowed more than 20 points in a game so far this year, and can pitch a shutout any given Saturday, and that might be enough even with how bad the offense has been.
