Michigan avoided a tough loss to Northwestern by securing a 2-point win in the final moments. The Wolverines’ tough task at Wrigley Field was to overcome their own mistakes. They had multiple inconsistent plays throughout the game, yet posted a 24-22 win. Sitting now at 8–2 and just keeping its playoff hopes alive, Michigan faces a crucial moment as Sherrone Moore issues an ultimatum to the locker room about a costly blunder.

Despite multiple questionable plays against Northwestern on Saturday, the Wolverines’ playoff hopes would have ended in a fumble in the fourth quarter. Facing fourth-and-1 with 4:26 left on the clock and trailing Northwestern by one point (21–22) from the Wildcats’ 24-yard line, the Wolverines, instead of attempting a field goal, tried to convert. This backfired on them, as Underwood, in an attempt to hand off high to Kuzdzal, fumbled the ball on the exchange. Sherrone Moore addressed the controversial call and sent a warning to their locker room.

“Yeah. Wanted to be aggressive,” Michigan’s head coach explained on the post-game presser. “Wanted to be aggressive and go get the first down. Try to go score. We fumbled the ball. That can’t happen. It was just a fumble of the exchange. I think he just caught it and dropped it. There’s a lot of things you could say. You could say, ‘Oh, yeah, if you go under center.’ Well, if you go under center, then they squeeze the defense. And then it’s harder to run it.”

Moore said that having Bryce Underwood in the center of the gun is helpful for them at some points. But ensured that they have to work on it to execute it with perfection. “So, the ability for him to be in the gun is also sometimes good. Because then they got to have a counter to him, too. You know, so I think that’s all a piece of it. And we just got to execute that better.”

Michigan’s offense had three fumbles and also faced five turnovers against Northwestern. If Dominic Zvada didn’t score a 31-yard field goal in the final seconds, Sherrone’s playoff hopes would have come to an end. Zvada, on the same day, missed two field goals early in the game, and it was like a gamble in the end. Nevertheless, it was an emotional win.

Sherrone Moore on Michigan’s win against Northwestern

After the win, Sherrone Moore was filled with both excitement and relief, despite multiple turnovers. And now he’s excited about the next game against Maryland. “Oh, man, how about that one?” Moore said. “When you coach this game, when you’re part of this game with these young men, coaches, staff, and you’re with them for hours and hours, at the end of the day, and you go through that emotional rollercoaster like that, you appreciate the hard work, you appreciate their fight, their grit to finish.”

The coach recalled that they hadn’t won a five-turnover game before and what happened in 2018 against South Carolina. “I haven’t been a part of a five-turnover game and won the game. The last time Michigan had was to South Carolina in 2018, and we lost, you know, having five turnovers.”

Moore took accountability for the fumbles and gave credit for the win to the players. “So there are things that we know from a decision-making standpoint: a fumble happened. We’re going to take that as coaches, not on the players. But at the end of the day, we found a way to win, and that’s the most important piece. So, really excited for our team to be 8-2 right now as we go into this next game, as we go to prepare for Maryland.”

With playoff hopes still alive, we need to assess how the win impacts the CFP rankings.