Michigan Wolverines Stock Report: 3 Players Rising, 3 Falling After Stunning Loss at Minnesota

Michigan lost in stunning fashion to the Minnesota Golden Gophers yesterday. The score wasn't the stunning part, it was just how poorly they played once again. This Michigan team can't seem to get out of its own way and five games into the season that starts to reflect upon the coaching staff.

With the bye week coming up, Michigan will have to have some tough conversations this week. Let's dive into who played well in this game, and who didn't?

Stock Up: Troy Bowles

Troy Bowles played another really good ball game at the linebacker position. He finished with 9 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. He was all over the field on Saturday, flying around and making plays. He's really been coming into his own the last few weeks and if he continues to look this good, he may have an NFL Draft decision to make after this season.

Stock Down: Bryce Underwood

Bryce Underwood followed up his career best performance last week with a total dud this week. He was very poor in his decision making, and his accuracy. Just when it looked like he was about to really turn a corner, it all came crashing back down to earth this week.

Underwood is a hard player to figure out because he's shown the flashes of development, but his lows are still as low as they've ever been. This is a quarterback who has started 18 games now in his career. At some point his experience should start to shine through and help him take that step to be a more consistent player. For whatever reason, that just doesn't appear to be happening with him.

Michigan Wolverines linebacker Nathaniel Staehling is congratulated by linebacker Aisea Moa and linebacker Troy Bowles after intercepting a pass | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Stock Up: Nathaniel Staehling

When Michigan's back was against the wall in the first half of this game tied at 7, with the Minnesota offense driving, Nathaniel Staehling stepped up and made a huge play. He stuck with his man when Minnesota tried to do a bunch of trickery in the back field and then throw it to Darius Taylor who came out of the backfield, and Staehling wasn't fooled at all. He jumped the route and made an incredible interception return taking it all the way back for a near-80 yard pick six.

The kid from Minnesota comes back to his home state and delivers a pick six! pic.twitter.com/ncT6QzLpmB
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) October 3, 2026

It was a fantastic play, and he had a few other nice moments as well. Michigan's linebackers in general have been playing well lately for the most part and Nathaniel Staehling is a big part of that. Staehling would go on to finish the game with 6 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and the pick six of course. He was really good in this game, and he gave the Wolverines life when the badly needed someone to make a play.

Stock Down: Andrew Marsh

Andrew Marsh has had an up and down season so far. In this game he muffed a punt which turned into a field goal for Minnesota, and also had a bad wide open drop on a possession Michigan ended up having to punt on. In this game it almost appeared that he's checked out, he was playing pretty lackadaisical and you just can't afford to do that in the Big Ten.

Marsh is still a really good payer but this was one of his worst performances of his young career, and Michigan's offense badly needs him to step up and help this passing offense each and every week.

Stock Up: Rod Moore

Rod Moore had a good game Saturday, making a couple nice tackles in open space. He finished with 7 tackles to himself. He hasn't quite played as well this year as he did a couple years ago back in 2023, but he has come back from two major knee injuries. So far this year it's looked like he's played a little bit hesitant, but I thought he looked closer to the old Rod Moore in this one.

He was always really good at tackling in space, and he made a really nice tackle in this one that Minnesota would've housed if Moore hadn't made the play. Luckily he was there to clean it up for Michigan's defense, and hopefully he can continue to play like this the rest of the season.

Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive lineman Naquan Crowder and Michigan Wolverines offensive lineman Brady Norton square off | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Stock Down: Offensive Line

One of the most jarring aspects of the performance yesterday was Michigan's offensive line. They were largely unable to get movement against Minnesota's defensive line that is far from the best unit they'll play this season. Michigan only managed 2.8 yards per carry, on 28 carries, and that's simply nowhere near good enough. Bryce Underwood was also sacked 3 times and hit several others, as the offensive line has issues at every aspect of offensive line play on Saturday.

I'll give offensive line coach Jim Harding a little bit of the benefit of the doubt because they've had so many offensive line injuries already this season that it's been hard to put together anything consistent. But also, 2.8 yards per carry is 2.8 yards per carry. This Michigan offensive line room has a lot of talent, both college wise and with future NFL players as well. Jim Harding needs to figure it out quickly, or this team will be in for a long season.

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