The 2020 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in the sport of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolverines played in the East Division of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and played their home games at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest stadium in the world, and the ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

. Michigan was coached by sixth-year head coach Jim Harbaugh. The season was played amid the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The Big Ten Conference initially canceled the fall sports season, on August 11, 2020, but reversed course on September 16, announcing an eight-game conference-only schedule. Michigan's previously scheduled nonconference games against

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Ball State, and

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

were canceled due to the pandemic. Precautions were taken to promote player, staff, and fan safety, including regular COVID-19 testing, isolation requirements, and mask wearing; games were largely played with no fans in attendance. Michigan began the year ranked 16th in the preseason

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

. In the season's opening game against then-No. 21

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, Michigan won, on the road, 49–24. After rising to 13th in the polls, Michigan was upset by unranked in-state rival

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. After losing two more games against ranked opponents

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, Michigan won a triple-overtime game against

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

, and lost to Penn State the following week. Michigan's final three conference games, against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, were canceled due to COVID-19 outbreaks.Michigan cancels Big Ten Championship game at Iowa
WEYI-TV, December 15, 2020 While the NCAA's win requirements for bowl eligibility were lifted for the season, Michigan was not selected to a bowl game for the first time since 2014, ending the season with a 2–4 record. Quarterback

Joe Milton Joe Milton III (born March 6, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers. He previously played for Michigan. Early years Milton attended Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida. He committed to the University of Mic ...

began the season as the team's starting quarterback, but by the end of the season he had been replaced by backup

Cade McNamara Cade McNamara (born May 28, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Iowa Hawkeyes. McNamara was the starting quarterback for the 2021 Michigan Wolverines team won the 2021 Big Ten championship, and appeared in the College Football Pl ...

. The team's leading rusher was

Hassan Haskins Hassan Askiali Haskins Jr. (born November 26, 1999) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan. Early years In addition to playing football at Eur ...

, with 375 yards, and the team's leading receiver was

Ronnie Bell Ronald Percy Bell FRS FRSC FRSE (24 November 1907 – 9 January 1996) was a leading British physical chemist who worked in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Oxford. Life Ronald Percy Bell was the eldest child of Edwin ...

with 401 receiving yards. On defense, lineman

Kwity Paye Kwity Paye ( ; born 19 November 1998) is a Liberian professional American football defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Guinea as a refugee of the First Liberian Civil War and emigrated ...

led the team in tackles-for-loss and was named second-team all-conference. Linebacker Josh Ross led the team in tackles.

Preseason

Coaching changes

It was announced a day after the Citrus Bowl that safeties coach and special teams coordinator

Chris Partridge Chris Partridge (born November 3, 1980) is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the linebackers coach for the Michigan Wolverines football team. He is formerly the Paramus Catholic High School head coach and worked ...

accepted a co- defensive coordinator role at Ole Miss.

Coronavirus

The

led to the cancellation of all University of Michigan athletic activities during the spring of 2020, including the football team's annual spring game. The pandemic also led to cancellation of the team's international trip for the first time since 2016. On July 9, the

announced that it would adopt "a conference-only season" for all sports due to the coronavirus pandemic. The decision resulted in the cancellation of the first three games of Michigan's 2020 season against

, Ball State, and

. On August 11, the Big Ten announced that all fall sports, including football, would be indefinitely postponed due to COVID-19. The conference allowed for the possibility of competition in these sports to begin in the spring. However, the conference later announced the season would begin on October 23, with a schedule to be announced on September 19.

Recruiting

Michigan signed a total of 21 recruits in its 2020 recruiting class, including eight that enrolled early. The class was ranked 10th in the nation by 247Sports and 11th in the nation by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

Schedule

Michigan was originally scheduled to play non-conference games against

, Ball State, and

; and conference games against

, and

. However those games were canceled due to the

. The Big Ten Conference announced on July 9 that if the conference is to participate in a fall sports season, member schools will play a conference-only schedule. The Big Ten announced a revised schedule on August 5, which was scrapped when the conference announced postponement of the season on August 11. A new schedule was released on September 19.

Rankings

Radio

Radio coverage for all games was broadcast statewide on the

Michigan Sports Network The Michigan Wolverines Sports Network is an American radio network consisting of 46 radio stations which carry coverage of Michigan Wolverines football and men's basketball. WXYT-FM (97.1 FM) and WWJ (950 AM), both in Metro Detroit, serve as ...

and on Sirius XM Satellite Radio and online via

TuneIn TuneIn is a global audio streaming service delivering live news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users. TuneIn is operated by the company TuneIn Inc. which is based in San Francisco, California. The compan ...

. The radio announcers are

Jim Brandstatter James Patrick Brandstatter (born ) is an American sports announcer. He was the radio play-by-play announcer for the Michigan Wolverines football team. He held the position of color commentator for the Detroit Lions for 31 years until the end ...

with

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

Dan Dierdorf Daniel Lee Dierdorf (born June 29, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former football offensive tackle. A native of Canton, Ohio, Dierdorf played college football for the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1970 and was selected as a conse ...

with

color commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

, and

Doug Karsch Doug Karsch (born ) is an American talk radio show host and the Michigan Wolverines football radio play by play announcer (along side Jon Jansen), based in Detroit, Michigan. Education and early career Karsch was born in Champaign, Illinois a ...

with sideline reports.

Game summaries

At Minnesota

*Sources: On October 24, Michigan opened its season with a 49–24 victory over Minnesota in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Michigan retained the Little Brown Jug trophy in a rivalry that had not been contested since 2017. Michigan defeated Minnesota 49–24. On Michigan's opening drive, Preston Jelen blocked Will Hart's punt and recovered the ball at Michigan's 17-yard line. On its second play from scrimmage, Minnesota scored via a 14-yard touchdown pass from

Tanner Morgan Tanner Morgan (born April 17, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota. Early life and high school career Morgan was born on April 17, 1 ...

to Ko Kieft. Michigan tied the score via a 70-yard touchdown run from

Zach Charbonnet Zachariah Charbonnet (born January 8, 2001) is an American football running back. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines before transferring to UCLA Bruins in 2021. He was a two-time all-conference selection in the Pac-12 with ...

. The Wolverines took the lead when Donovan Jeter recovered a Tanner Morgan fumble and returned it 15-yards for a touchdown. Brock Walker narrowed the lead to 14–10 with a 29-yard field goal. Michigan extended its lead to 21–10 on an eight-yard touchdown pass from

to Ben Mason. In the second quarter, Minnesota scored on a 16-yard touchdown run from Mohamed Ibrahim. Michigan added 14 points on two four-yard touchdown runs from

, which made the score 35–17 in favor of Michigan at half-time. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter via a five-yard touchdown run from Ibrahim for Minnesota and a two-yard touchdown run from Milton for Michigan. Michigan scored the only points of the fourth quarter via a five-yard touchdown run from Chris Evans. In his first start at quarterback, Joe Milton completed 15 of 22 passes for 225 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 52 yards on eight carries. Ronnie Bell led the Wolverines' receivers with four catches for 74 yards. Hassan Haskins led the backs with 82 rushing yards and two touchdowns on six carries. Michigan's 49 points against Minnesota are the second-most points scored in a true road game against a ranked opponent in program history, trailing only those scored in a 54–51 loss at Northwestern in 2000. It also ties for the fifth-most points in a season-opening game in program history. Michigan's 35 points in the first half were the program's most against a ranked opponent in the AP Poll era. The game's officiating crew was entirely

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, the first in the Big Ten Conference.

Michigan State

*Sources: After facing Minnesota, Michigan hosted its in-state rival, the Michigan State Spartans in their home opener, facing Michigan State back-to-back at Ann Arbor for the first time since the 1967–68 seasons, in the battle for the

Paul Bunyan Trophy Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

. Last season, Michigan defeated Michigan State 44–10. Michigan was upset by Michigan State 27–24. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the first quarter, on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Rocky Lombardi to Ricky White for Michigan State, and an eight-yard touchdown run from

Blake Corum Blake Nolan Corum (born November 25, 2000) is an American football running back for the Michigan Wolverines. He won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football and was named a unanimous All-American in 2022 after rushing for over 1,400 yards with 18 touc ...

for Michigan. Michigan State regained the lead in the second quarter on a two-yard touchdown pass from Lombardi to Connor Heyward. Michigan responded with a 23-yard field goal by

Quinn Nordin Quinn Nordin (born August 16, 1998) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He played college football at Michigan and signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2021. High school career Nordin played high school fo ...

, which made the score 14–10 in favor of Michigan State at half-time. Michigan State extended its lead in the third quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Matt Coghlin. Michigan responded with a one-yard touchdown run from Corum to tie the game. Michigan State regained the lead with a 51-yard field goal by Coghlin. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Lombardi to Connor for Michigan State and a two-yard touchdown run from

for Michigan. The official attendance of 615 was the smallest football crowd in Michigan Stadium history. Graduate student kicker

was successful on his first field-goal attempt of the season for 23 yards in the second quarter. It was the 41st field goal of Nordin's career, which ranks fifth among Michigan's all-time leaders.

At Indiana

*Sources: Following its game against Michigan State, Michigan visited the Indiana Hoosiers. Last season, Michigan defeated Indiana 39–14. Michigan lost to Indiana 38–21. Indiana opened the scoring in the first quarter via a 13-yard touchdown pass from

Michael Penix Jr. Michael Penix Jr. (born May 8, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Huskies of the Pac-12 Conference. He previously played for the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten Conference before transferring to Washington in 2 ...

to Miles Marshall. Michigan responded with a 37-yard touchdown pass from

to Cornelius Johnson. Indiana re-gained the lead via a 24-yard touchdown pass from Penix to

Ty Fryfogle Ty Fryfogle (born January 28, 1999) is an American football wide receiver. He played college football at Indiana. Early life and high school Fryfogle grew up in Lucedale, Mississippi and attended George County High School. As a senior, he ca ...

. Indiana scored 10 points in the second quarter via a 52-yard field goal by Charles Campbell and a one-yard touchdown pass from Penix to

Peyton Hendershot Peyton Hendershot (born April 23, 1999) is an American football tight end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Indiana. College career Hendershot played college football at the Indiana Univ ...

, which made the score 24–7 in favor of Indiana at half-time. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter via a 13-yard touchdown pass from Milton to Roman Wilson for Michigan and a one-yard touchdown run from Stevie Scott for Indiana. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the fourth quarter via a 21-yard touchdown pass from Milton to

for Michigan and a two-yard touchdown run from Scott for Indiana. Michigan's loss to Indiana snapped a 24-game series win streak for the Wolverines against the Hoosiers, this was their first loss to Indiana since 1987. With three successful PATs at Indiana, kicker

moved into 12th place in all-time scoring for Michigan with 237 points.

Wisconsin

*Sources: After facing Indiana, Michigan hosted the Wisconsin Badgers. Last season, Michigan lost to Wisconsin 35–14. Michigan lost to Wisconsin 49–11, their worst loss in Ann Arbor in 85 years, when they dropped a 38-0 decision to Ohio State. Wisconsin scored 14 points in the first quarter via a two-yard touchdown run from Nakia Watson and a one-yard touchdown pass from

Graham Mertz Graham Mertz (born December 6, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Florida Gators. He previously played for the Wisconsin Badgers before transferring to Florida in 2023. Early life and high school career Mertz's first two years of ...

to Mason Stokke. Wisconsin added 14 points in the second quarter via a one-yard touchdown run from Stokke and a 10-yard touchdown run from Watson, which made the score 28–0 in favor of Wisconsin at half-time. Michigan finally got on the board in the third quarter via a 46-yard field goal by

. The teams exchanged touchdowns via a 13-yard touchdown pass from Mertz to Jake Ferguson for Wisconsin and a 23-yard touchdown pass from

Mike Sainristil Michael Sainristil (born October 3, 2000) is an American football wide receiver and defensive back for the Michigan Wolverines. Early life and high school career Sainristil was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 2000. His father, Carlot, was the ...

and a two-point conversion pass from Giles Jackson to McNamara for Michigan. Wisconsin added 14 points in the fourth quarter via a four-yard touchdown run from Danny Davis III and a 23-yard touchdown run from Jalen Berger.

's 46-yard field goal in the third quarter was his 14th career field goal at 40-yards or longer, setting a Michigan program record. With the loss to Wisconsin, Michigan had their first 1–3 start to a season since 1967.

At Rutgers

*Sources: After facing Wisconsin, Michigan traveled to Piscataway, New Jersey to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Last season, Michigan defeated Rutgers in a blowout 52–0. Michigan defeated Rutgers in triple overtime, 48–42. Rutgers opened the scoring in the first quarter via a three-yard touchdown run from Johnny Langan. Rutgers added 10 points in the second quarter via a one-yard touchdown run from Langan, and a 38-yard field goal by Valentino Ambrosio. Michigan finally got on the board later in the quarter via a 46-yard touchdown pass from

to Cornelius Johnson, which made the score 17–7 in favor of Rutgers at half-time. Michigan added 14 points in the third quarter via a 95-yard kickoff return by Giles Jackson and a nine-yard touchdown pass from McNamara to

Nick Eubanks Nick Eubanks (born November 21, 1996) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played college football at Michigan and was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2021. Early life and education Nick Eubanks was ...

. Rutgers added 10 points via a 61-yard touchdown pass from Noah Vedral to Bo Melton and a 42-yard field goal by Ambrosio. Michigan added 14 points in the fourth quarter via a six-yard touchdown pass from McNamara to

and a nine-yard touchdown pass from McNamara to Johnson, giving Michigan their first lead of the game. Rutgers responded with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Vedral to Aron Cruickshank and a Vedral two-point conversion run to tie the game and force overtime. After a scoreless first overtime period where both teams missed field goals, Rutgers scored via a 25-yard touchdown pass from Vedral to Jovani Haskins in double overtime. Michigan responded with a two-yard touchdown run from McNamara. In triple overtime, Michigan scored via a one-yard touchdown run from

. Michigan's 17-point comeback tied the third largest come-from-behind victory in program history and tied the second-biggest comeback on the road.

Penn State

*Sources: After facing Rutgers, Michigan hosted the Penn State Nittany Lions. Last season, Michigan lost to Penn State 21–28 in Penn State's annual White Out game. Michigan lost to Penn State 27–17. Penn State opened the scoring in the first quarter via a six-yard touchdown run from Keyvone Lee. Michigan responded with a two-yard touchdown run from

. Penn State scored 10 points in the second quarter via a 28-yard touchdown run from

Sean Clifford Sean Burke Clifford (born July 14, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State. He was the starting quarterback and team captain for the Ni ...

and a 22-yard field goal by Jake Pinegar, which made the score 17–7 in favor of Penn State at half-time. The teams exchanged field goals in the third quarter, via a 40-yard field goal by

Jake Moody Jake Moody (born ) is an American football placekicker for the Michigan Wolverines. He won the 2021 Lou Groza Award and was the consensus first-team placekicker on the 2021 college football All-America team. Early years Moody attended Northvill ...

for Michigan and a 33-yard field goal by Jake Pinegar for Penn State. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the fourth quarter, via a two-yard touchdown run from Haskins for Michigan and a two-yard touchdown run from Will Levis for Penn State. With the rest of their season cancelled, the loss to Penn State meant Michigan won no games at home for the first time in program history; the Wolverines played their first game in Ann Arbor in

1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

Roster

Awards and honors

2021 NFL Draft

References

{{Michigan Wolverines football navbox

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

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