As is tradition, the Michigan Wolverines will open up their new season with a fairly straightforward non-conference tilt. Full stop, there is not really anything that should give Michigan too much concern against the New Mexico Lobos, who are the 7th-worst team nationally in preseason SP+. However, of the four unit-vs-unit matchups, the Wolverines’ passing game is the one that jumps out most.
To be clear, the pass defense numbers for New Mexico last season were ugly: 5th-worst in PPG, 4th-most passing touchdowns allowed, 6th-most passing yards allowed per game. As a result, SP+ has this defense 3rd-worst heading into the 2025 season. What, then, makes this matchup so intriguing? How about a bunch of new faces for both teams!
Understandably, the Lobos will feature new faces all across the secondary. Head coach Jason Eck followed the recent trend of bringing former players with him to his new school, including cornerback Abraham Williams, who played four games under Eck at Idaho before getting injured last fall. An FCS All-American, Williams made this year’s Freaks List, with Bruce Feldman highlighting his 39-inch vertical and 22.5 mph top speed.
Williams is far from the only incoming transfer joining the secondary. In, too, are former four-star safety Clint Stephens (UCLA), Jon Johnson (Montana State), Jayden Sheridan (Utah Tech), Azariah Levells (Stephen F. Austin), Caleb Coleman (Texas State), Austin Brawley (Ohio), and Albert Nunes (Northern Iowa). The only returning players that seem to have a home on the two-deep are Aaron Smith and Tavian Combs.
While none of these incoming players are necessarily amazing talents, the two-deep needed a refresh and certainly acquired a bunch of dart throws. This is probably going to be a bad pass defense again, but it really cannot get much worse than last season…hopefully….
Source link : https://www.maizenbrew.com/michigan-football-analysis/90956/michigan-football-new-mexico-secondary-transfer-portal-bryce-underwood
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Publish date : 2025-08-27 22:00:00
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