When Sherrone Moore faced a self-imposed suspension for the third and fourth games of the 2025 season, Michigan had to step up. Oh yes, they did step up to the enormous challenge. The team had two sensational victories against Central Michigan and Nebraska, and suddenly looked remarkable under interim coach Biff Poggi. Will Moore have to bear the trouble, or will his time in Ann Arbor come to an end before that? NIL booster Dave Portnoy has an answer.

Notably, Moore will serve a suspension for the Western Michigan game on September 5, 2026. Portnoy has been Michigan’s confidant. The Barstool Sports founder stirred Moore’s pot a little on the October 15 episode of the Barstool Gambling podcast. “ I am not going to declare him the guy. There’s a lot of people in Michigan circles, I think, who believe he is not the guy. I think it’s too early,” Portnoy started to build the narrative of how long Moore can enjoy his prime throne in Ann Arbor. 

According to Josh Pate, they might move on from Moore if Michigan football finishes with a record of 9-3 or 8-4. To him, an eight-win or nine-win season won’t be enough for Moore to keep his head above water. About it, Portnoy shared a deciding factor to save Moore’s seat, “If he doesn’t beat Ohio State, I’m probably at ‘he’s not the guy already’ mode. But if he keeps stinking and then beating Ohio State, then it’s a confusing situation.”

He added, “Because in a weird way then it’s like okay I can kind of live with that. If we don’t win if we go 0 and 10 and then beat Ohio State every year. I can talk my talk.” Last time, we saw how Moore and co. flipped the script for Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Moreover, Michigan has won four straight games against Ohio State as it reversed Ohio’s dominance.

Back in May, with 100 days until Week 0, ESPN dropped its bold predictions. In their 10 bold calls, the Victors Valiant backed Michigan to beat the Buckeyes again. It was then doubled down by Michigan expert Isaiah Hole, who predicted that Moore would cook up a bitter concoction and push it down Day’s throat. 

“I still like Michigan’s chances, especially because they should have a better offense. They might be suffering – even though it’s not getting talked about enough – from a lot of similar issues that Michigan had last year… come off that National Championship, they lose both coordinators, they lose the starting quarterback, and yeah, you got a new starting quarterback. They lose a ton of talent on the defensive side, right? Like that’s a lot of similar issues,” the analyst stated. But before that, Moore and co. will have to get rid of their flaws. 

Big news drops in as Sherrone Moore and co. heals from USC loss

October 11 has been a fateful day in the Ann Arbor camp. Moore’s Michigan got crushed by the USC Trojans 31-13. RB Jordan Marshall did not push their glaring issue under the table. “We just didn’t execute. I don’t think we executed enough on offense. We didn’t give our defense time to be off the field all night. I put that on myself, and I’m going to help lead this team to make sure that we can be better in all phases of the game,” Marshall said.

When Justice Haynes took an exit after a midsection injury, Moore’s offense buckled. What added more woes was the wobbly defense. They gave free access to Lincoln Riley’s passing and rushing attack. The Trojans ran for 225 yards without star RB Waymond Jordan, who got injured. That’s how Moore’s defense had gaping cracks in their scheme. 

The head coach, too, addressed the issues. “We didn’t execute all the times we needed to,” he said after the game. “That was not one of our best tackling performances… Just too many opportunities, big plays, third down conversions, and scoring at the beginning of the game and half. So we just gotta do a better job of rallying those things.” While there are too many things on Moore’s plate to take care of, here comes a reason to lift their spirits.

Following the blowout loss to USC, whispers emerged that quarterback Bryce Underwood might be nursing an injury. Moreover, Sherrone Moore provided an update claiming Underwood “continues to get better and better and better.”

However, the latest update came from tight end Zack Marshall, who said the quarterback is making strides and getting more comfortable in the offense. The big clash on November 29 gives Moore enough runway to pump up his life-saving boat before game day.