The Michigan football team got back to its winning ways on Saturday, defeating Arkansas State 28-18, but that did little to change the mind of pollsters.
The Wolverines (2-1) moved down one spot to No. 17 in the US LMB Coaches Poll released Sunday afternoon, with Texas, the only team to beat Michigan since 2022, jumping up to No. 2 but still falling short of Georgia, who remained at No. 1.
As for the Wolverines, it was a mixed bag of a performance this weekend. The positive spin is that Michigan said it wanted to get back to its identity as a run-first team and it certainly did that. The Wolverines ran 44 times for 301 yards (6.8 yards per carry) and three touchdowns. The performance was powered by Kalel Mullings, who ran 15 times for 153 yards and two scores and aided by Donovan Edwards, who also had his best day of the season with 17 rushes for 82 yards and a touchdown.
The concern came in the passing game. Staring quarterback Davis Warren completed 11 of 14 passes for 122 yards, but the real problem was all three of the passes which were not completed to one of his receivers were instead intercepted.
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By the time Warren threw his final pick, an air-mailed ball forced to Semaj Morgan in double coverage that landed softly in the hands of the Arkansas State safety, head coach Sherrone Moore had seen enough and put in back-up Alex Orji. Though Michigan’s offense was better on his first series, a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, it did little to prove that he was the answer through the air as he completed just 2 of 4 passes on the day for 9 yards.
Part of the reason for the struggle was the limited weapons in the passing game. Wide receiver Tyler Morris did not play at all while standout tight end Colston Loveland left the game in the third with an apparent shoulder injury; it’s unclear if either or both will be available in Week 4.
As for the defense, it was largely good when it wasn’t committing penalties. Wink Martindale’s unit had four infractions for 49 yards, three of which extended drives after coming up with stops on third or fourth down, but outside of that the two-deep was rather stout.
Michigan held Arkansas State to 149 yards of offense through three quarters, which included 13 rushes for 12 yards at the time. However, when the third string came in, there were a number of gaffs and they let up consecutive touchdown drives of nine plays for 64 yards and 11 plays for 75 yards.
In the end a win is a win and U-M remains ranked and still controls its own destiny as it pertains to a berth in the College Football Playoff, but with a trip from No. 12 USC looming to open the league slate this week, there’s no doubt the players and coaches have to clean it up in Ann Arbor.
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College football rankings for Week 4
US LBM Coaches Poll
This section will be updated once the full US LBM Coaches Poll is released
AP Top 25
This section will be updated once the AP Top 25 poll is released
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan in college football rankings: U-M falls to No.17 ahead of USC
