What You Need to Know About Michigan

Georgia’s semifinal matchup in the College Football Playoffs with Michigan is just ten days away.

It’s been over two weeks since Georgia last took the field and played Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. It was a game that certainly stings for the Bulldogs, as it marked their first loss of the season, along with their worst performance to date.

Alabama rolled to an impressive 41-24 win over Georgia in Atlanta after seemingly being picked against all week by the national media for what appeared to be obvious flaws in the Tide. Alabama’s regular-season struggles were on the mind of everyone heading into the SEC Championship weekend, not only because Alabama was looking vulnerable, but Georgia’s dominant regular season play made it seem the two had swapped places in 2021.

The attention now for Georgia is onto Michigan in the semifinal game of the College Football Playoffs. A win for Georgia would mean a trip to Indianapolis, Indiana. Georgia would get a rematch with SEC foe Alabama if all goes to plan, assuming the Crimson Tide gets past No. 4 Cincinnati.

Many are already predicting that Alabama will come out of the Cotton Bowl unscathed versus Cincinnati, leaving Georgia and Michigan to provide a classic.

So, what do you need to know about the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines?

Run First Offense

The similarities between these two teams are certainly there; looking from a statistical point of view before even turning on the game tape, it is well known that the Wolverines are a run-first football team.

The Wolverines feature two running backs who combined for 2,227 yards rushing and 31 rushing touchdowns. Stopping Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum will be at the top of the to-do list for Georgia in Miami.

The talent in the trenches combined with the dynamic backs coming out of the backfield allows Michigan to be a 60% (run) and 40% (passing) offense yet remains one of the most explosive and efficient offenses in the sport this season. 

An offense coordinated by former Alabama assistant Josh Gattis ranks 10th in rushing yard per game (223) and 67th in passing yard per game (228). A lot of the attention offensively for Michigan will be surrounding its’ run game, but Cade McNamara brings many of the same abilities as Georgia’s Stetson Bennett.

Efficient yet Explosive Offense

Michigan’s offense will undoubtedly draw a stark contrast to the one that Georgia recently faced in the SEC Championship. Yet, Michigan looks just as explosive as the Crimson Tide were, just in different ways.

Over the last few years, a big word that has come up more and more is “efficiency.” Coaches, especially on the offensive side of the ball, will preach efficiency; essentially staying on schedule offensively and rarely having negative plays. Michigan is one of the most efficient offenses in 2021, ranking fourth in overall offensive efficiency.

So far, the Wolverines are averaging 37.7 points per game while averaging 6.4 yards per play. 

Top-Ranked Defense

On both sides of the football, Michigan and Georgia have so many similarities; defensively, the two are like mirror images. Georgia allows 9.54 points per game, which still ranks first in the country, even after Alabama scored 41 in their SEC Championship win. On the flip side, Michigan is allowed 16.08 PPG, which ties them for the fourth-best in the nation.

Michigan allows 122 yards rushing (21st) and 194 yards passing (22nd) per game. Once again providing some similarities with Georgia, allowing 82.2 yards rushing and 172.2 yards passing per game.

The lone surprise when evauting these football defenses, however, is despite the fact that they are two of the nation's best defenses, they fail to turn opponents over at a high rate. Georgia and Michigan are tied at 61st in the country with 16 turnovers gained. 

Average Redzone and Fourth Down Defense

An interesting stat to look at in this matchup is that Michigan has allowed just 30 redzone trips defensively this year. That's five more than a Bulldogs team that was historic this regular season, an impressive number nonetheless. But even more interesting is the percent of those trips that ended in points for their opponent.

Of those 30 redzone trips, Michigan opponents scored some type of points on 80% of possessions. Potential reasoning for these struggles in the red area is Michigan’s struggle to get off the field, especially on fourth-down plays. 

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