UW-Michigan Football Game Will Have Decided Texas Tech Flavor to It
Wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk and quarterback Alan Bowman probably didn't make any firm plans to meet again, but on September 11, on 9/11, they'll hold a Texas Tech reunion in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
That day, Polk will be wearing University of Washington football colors, Bowman the Maize and Blue for Michigan.
Both of these players have left the pass-happy Red Raiders, something school luminaries Mike Leach and Baker Mayfield once did, while Pat Mahomes found it a suitable football destination all along.
Polk, a starter in 7 of 10 games as a freshman last season, just didn't feel like a good fit at Tech and let his Lufkin, Texas, high school teammate and Husky running-back signee, Caleb Berry, talk him into transferring to the UW.
On Sunday, Bowman, once one of those stat-happy, heavily recruited Texas high school quarterbacks, announced he was joining Michigan. After starting 6 of 10 games as a sophomore, he wanted to start over fresh somewhere else.
Alan Bowman has left Tech for Michigan.
USA Today Sports
Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines find themselves in a similar position to the UW last season — they have a lot of quarterbacks on the roster who haven't played much. Bowman is their Kevin Thomson, a veteran acquisition and insurance policy to compete with all the unproven guys.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Bowman and speedy Polk hooked up on 17 passes for 135 yards, though none of them reached the end zone.
Polk caught another 11 passes for 126 yards a pair of touchdowns from Tech's other quarterback, Henry Columbi, who was a 4-game starter, once a Utah State transfer and probably the biggest reason Bowman left Lubbock.
Ja'Lynn Polk went 60 yards to score against TCU.
Andrew Dieb/USA TODAY Sports
Bowman will compete for the starting job with seven other quarterbacks on the Michigan roster, among them Cade McNamara, last season's back-up. He once had a 605-yard passing game as a freshman for the Red Raiders, breaking a record held by Mahomes by 7 yards.
He'll probably nod at Polk, his one-time Tech passing target, during warm-ups or greet him afterward coming off the field.
In between, Polk might want to arrange another meeting. He can encourage his new teammate, decorated edge rusher Ryan Bowman, to crash the Michigan backfield and get to know Alan Bowman, his old one.
They're no relation, of course, outside of the seven degrees of transfer portal separation connections.
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