Position by position report card from Michigan's Citrus Bowl loss to Texas

Michigan lost to Texas in the Citrus bowl by a final score of 41 to 27. As a team, Texas had 456 total yards, with the Wolverines well behind at 373 yards. Michigan also turned it over three times while Texas just had one.

It was not a pretty performance for Michigan in their final game of 2025 but they also played hard and seemed to give good effort in my opinion. That can't be said for every bowl team this time of the year so it is worth mentioning that they put in a good effort to try to win this game. They simply made too many mistakes and lost to a good Texas team that just missed the playoffs. Let's dive into how each position group performed below.

Quarterback: C-

Bryce Underwood had a disappointing end to his true Freshman season. He ended up completing only 23/42 passes for 199 yards, 2 TD's and 3 INT's. He also ran the ball a fair amount, chipping in 69 yards on 14 carries with another TD on the ground. Bryce was pretty bad throwing the football, and he also made some bad decisions that led to three INT's. He absolutely has all the talent in the world, but he had a pretty disappointing true Freshman season as a Wolverine and this game was the perfect example of it.

He doesn't understand how to read a defense yet, which is pretty obvious because he makes decisions constantly that make you scratch your head. He appears to just guess at what coverage he thinks he's going to get pre-snap and then throws it to the receiver he thinks will be open based on the pre-snap look he's getting. He doesn't appear to read the defense during the play which is what led to so many INT's in this game, and a few of his misses as well where he was just making throws he shouldn't have been making in the first place.

He has a lot to clean up before he turns into a star QB but you have to remember he's only 18 years old and doesn't have a lot of college experience yet. He can and will get better as he gets older, and for example Arch Manning was a lot better in this game but he's also three years older than Bryce Underwood is. Long term, Underwood still has everything you look for in a star QB and has the potential to be a 1st round pick in two years but there's a lot of work that he has to do to get there.

He wasn't all bad in this game though, he is clearly very comfortable in the RPO game where all he has to do is read one defender. He'll be a really good fit for Michigan's offense in 2026 under new Offensive Coordinator Jason Beck which is a spread/RPO based system. He also made a lot of nice runs in this game and that is something he needs to do more of next year. He is such a good athlete, it's a shame he didn't run the ball more this year because I think it could've helped him get more comfortable in games and lead to better passing performances as well, if teams were worried about getting burned with his legs. All things considered, this was not a good game for Bryce Underwood but if anyone is selling their stock of this young man for his future, I would absolutely be buying it up because I have a lot of confidence that he will get much better and can do it very quickly as well.

Running backs: B

Overall I thought the running backs played well, but not spectacular or anything. They were obviously without their top two players at the position so you have to grade them on a curve, but Bryson Kuzdzal ran hard and played well in this game and it was good to see Micah Ka'apana get some action as well. I'm not sure what happened to Jasper Parker but I would've liked to see him play in this game too. The two that did play though in Kuzdzal and Ka'apana did as well as could be expected behind a hodge podge of an offensive line. They averaged 4.1 and 6.9 yards per carry on 23 carries against a good Texas front seven on defense, which is fairly good. They both did about as well as you could've hoped for in this game but also didn't make any splash plays either, which is why I landed on a B grade here.

Wide receivers and tight ends: B-

It wasn't a bad game by any means from this group that struggled for a lot of the year. They didn't drop very many passes, but also didn't do a ton to help out their young QB either. For the wide receivers, Donaven McCulley led the way statistically with 4 receptions for 54 yards. Kendrick Bell had by far the best catch of the day on the TD pass from Bryce Underwood where he made an excellent play to tap his foot just slightly before he landed out of bounds. He also made a really nice adjustment to the ball while it was in the air to even give himself a chance to make the catch. He looks like he could have a role in this offense next season as a red-zone/possession type wide receiver. Andrew Marsh had a quiet day statistically with only 3 catches for 10 yards but did have a nice TD and also made some really nice kickoff returns as well. He's a special player and retaining him for next year should be a big priority for this Michigan team.

The tight ends played pretty well in this game. Marlin Klein was decent, but did have a drop on what was a beautiful throw by Underwood in the end zone. It would've been a tough catch from Klein but it also hit him in the hands in the end zone so he should be expected to make the play. Hogan Hansen played after missing almost the whole year, I think he has a lot of potential yet. He moves very smooth athletically and has nice, natural hands as well. I think he could have a big role for this offense next year if he can stay healthy. Zach Marshall and Deakon Tonielli also played and cought a couple passes as this group showed their depth in this game with four different TE's catching passes. Outside of Klein, everyone else should be back at Michigan next year if they want to and they look like a good group of TE's on paper for 2026.

Offensive line: C

This group was in a tough spot for this game with major mix ups due to injuries and opt-outs. For what they had out there, they played okay. They were clearly more comfortable in the run game still than the pass game. Brady Norton did not have a good day at RT, and to be honest I'm surprised he even got the start there. They were down to their third option though at the position with Andrew Sprague and even Link both out for this game so it's not a total shock to see their #3 option struggle against a good Texas pass rush. Kaden Strayhorn got some run in this game and looked decent in his action at RG. Nathan Efobi played well at LG in my opinion, and Jake Guarnera played decent at C after Greg Crippen left early due to an injury. Blake Frazier wasn't great at LT but he wasn't a liability either.

They ran the ball for 174 yards total, averaging 4.6 yards per carry against a good Texas front seven on defense so even though they were down several players, they still ran it more than good enough to win this game. They did struggle in pass protection though yet again and that was an issue for them all year. Texas only had 3 sacks officially but if Bryce Underwood was any less mobile it could've easily been 5 or 6. No one could really stay in front of Star edge Colin Simmons of the Longhorns but he's also a possible first round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft if he plays well next year as a Junior.

Overall, this will be one of the more fascinating position groups to me next year because they appear to have a glut of players with talent and experience across the board. I'm sure they will not all be Wolverines in 2026 with the coaching turnover, but on paper this group could be excellent in 2026 with as much talent and youth and they've got in this position group entering next year.

Defensive line: D

As a whole, this position group was just flat out bad against Texas. They were just so inconsistent down to down in run defense and didn't get nearly enough pressure on Arch Manning in the passing game. This whole group will look very different next year and personally I think that's a good thing.

Damon Payne, Tre Williams, and Dominic Nichols all had really nice plays that resulted in tackles for loss but they all also got washed out a few times as well. Michigan also didn't have any sacks as a team which is a really bad sign because Texas did not have a good offensive line this year and they managed to run for 221 yards on the ground and Michigan't couldn't muster up any pressure on passing plays either. Just a bad performance from this group and let's hope they play much better in 2026.

Linebackers: C

Michigan opted for a youth movement in the bowl game as far as linebackers go, and they played pretty well all things considered. They had their rough moments in the run game as they missed tackles and missed assignments that led to big plays for Texas on the ground. They also made some nice plays as well, as each player had their moments making nice tackles.

Cole Sullivan, Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, and Troy Bowles can make this group upgrade athletically from what they had this year and Jimmy Rolder may opt to return to Michigan for next year as well. With all the youth and athleticism in this room potentially returning to Michigan for 2026, this could be the best position group on Michigan's defense next year. They have some things to clean up as a position group for sure, but there's a lot of reason to believe they will be better next year as well with more experience for everyone combined with a better scheme like expected for 2026.

Secondary: D

The secondary was quite bad against Texas. This group likewise has a lot of young talent and athleticism but they just don't play well together yet. In man they got beat a few times pretty badly against this good Texas wide receiving core, and in zone there were guys just running free as well. Zeke Berry was just flat out bad and looked overmatched against Texas' athleticism out wide. Jyaire Hill was mostly good but also missed a couple tackles badly and got beat for a big TD play as well. To me, both guys should return to school next season for extra seasoning but they each technically have NFL Draft Decisions to make. The young corner backs of Shamari Earls and Jayden Sanders didn't fare much better either as it was just a forgettable performance from this position group in this game.

The safety group was also bad, but they had a lot of pressure on them to clean up the mistakes of everyone in front of them. TJ Metcalf missed a few tackles in the open field, as did Jordan Young. Jaden Mangham made a nice play for a TFL though and he had a pretty good game but he was really the only one from this group to play well at all.

Coaching: C-

Biff Poggi had the guys motivated to play hard at least I thought so that should be a credit to him for this game. It's really all you can ask for considering all of the recent changes and he for sure did the program a service with his leadership in this last month as the interim Head Coach. They lost the game, yes, but they did seem to try when they could've easily mailed it in with new coaches coming on for next year and they didn't do so, which to me is a commendable thing.

Offensively they were without their primary play caller and Offensive Coordinator as Chip Lindsey left for the same role at Missouri prior to this game. They also had a hodpe podge offensive line group to work with, and they ended up scoring 27 points on what was a pretty good Texas defense this year. Coaching wise I thought they did as much as could be expected as far as play calling goes but with Bryce Underwood's mistakes it made it all look pretty bad late in the game. Maybe they should've run the ball more early on, but I also understand the desire to try to air it out more after not really doing so in the regular season.

On defense, it was a pretty pathetic effort from Wink Martindale. Personally I think Michigan will upgrade big time at DC next year with their reported hiring of Jay Hill from BYU. Wink just doesn't have it anymore, as he was getting gashed both on the ground and through the air and never really made any adjustments either to at least try to take something away. Arch Manning was free to run all day and Wink never put a spy on him to try to slow that part of their offense down which just made no sense to me. He had no clear plan in this game and it burned them multiple times with little to no adjustments made either. Let's all hope Michigan's defense is better coached next year because games like this make me wonder if Wink Martindale should even be coaching high major football in college or the pros anymore.

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