The Michigan Wolverines are now 7-2 after a 21-16 win over Purdue. At this point in the season, the team is dealing with quite a few injuries. Justice Haynes, Cole Sullivan and Jimmy Rolder were all unavailable to play in this one.
To help fill those gaps, the Wolverines relied on some true freshmen. Linebackers Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng (two tackles) and Chase Taylor (three tackles) helped on defense, while Jasper Parker (one carry, four yards) got in there on offense.
Here are the freshmen who have seen playing time this season. An asterisk (*) indicates they saw playing time against Purdue:
The Wolverines could have used more help offensively from Bryce Underwood, who only completed 13-of-22 passes for 145 yards, one interception and one fumble. He managed to find fellow freshman, wide receiver Andrew Marsh, four times for just 25 yards. While Underwood did make some plays on the ground, seven carries for 44 yards, he didn’t look as composed on Saturday as he has in past games.
Michigan will hopefully have some starters back after the bye week, but if not, look for Owusu-Boateng and Taylor to see the field even more. Michigan turned to Bryson Kuzdzal ahead of Parker on the offensive side of the ball, which may tell us the Wolverines aren’t quite ready to give him significant carries just yet. Still, Parker is just one game away from burning his redshirt and is likely to see the field at least once more this season.
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