The 2019 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the sport of college football during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolverines competed in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan was coached by Jim Harbaugh, who was in his fifth season.
Coming off a Peach Bowl appearance in 2018, Michigan began the year as slight favorites to win the Big Ten Conference, and were ranked seventh in the preseason AP Poll. Under the leadership of new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, the Wolverine offense struggled in the early part of the season. In the second game of the year, Michigan escaped with an overtime win against Army. Two weeks later, the team was soundly defeated by Wisconsin, 35–14. Analysts saw as a turning point for the offense its second half performance against then-No. 7 Penn State, but Michigan's comeback attempt failed as it lost 28–21. The team defeated rivals Notre Dame and Michigan State in blowouts at home, but ended the regular season with a loss to Ohio State, its eighth straight loss in the series. Michigan was invited to the Citrus Bowl to play Alabama, where it lost 35–16 to end the year at 9–4, 6–3 in Big Ten play.
The offense was led by senior quarterback Shea Patterson, who became just the third Wolverine passer to ever eclipse the 3,000 yards passing mark. Offensive linemen Ben Bredeson and Jon Runyan Jr. were both named first-team all-conference. The defense was led by first-team all-conference cornerback Lavert Hill, as well as second-team selections Kwity Paye and Josh Uche on the defensive line, and linebacker Khaleke Hudson.
Preseason
Coaching changes Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison and linebackers coach Al Washington both left to take jobs at Ohio State in early January 2019. Michigan announced the hiring of Josh Gattis as offensive coordinator on January 10. He previously was the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator at Alabama for one season. Head coach Jim Harbaugh also announced the hiring of former Boston College co-defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile as a defensive assistant and former Arizona State assistant Shaun Nua to be the new defensive line coach. Assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton left the team in February. He had been one of the nation's highest paid assistants in 2018.
Player news
The team released a statement in February 2019 that running back Chris Evans, who was set to be the Wolverines' leading returning rusher, was no longer with the program. Evans announced on Twitter that he had "academic issues" and planned to continue his career at Michigan. In June, Coach Harbaugh confirmed that Evans would be suspended for the 2019 season.
Recruiting
Michigan's 2019 recruiting class consisted of 26 signees, including eight that enrolled early. The class was ranked as the nation's 8th best by 247Sports and ESPN, and 10th by Rivals. It was the highest ranked class in the Big Ten Conference by all three recruiting services.
Preseason Big Ten poll Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Michigan was voted as the favorite to win both the East Division and the Big Ten Championship Game.
Schedule
Rankings
Radio Radio coverage for all games will be broadcast statewide on The Michigan IMG Sports Network and on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. The radio announcers are Jim Brandstatter with play-by-play, Dan Dierdorf with color commentary, and Doug Karsch with sideline reports.
Game summaries
Middle Tennessee
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To open the season, Michigan hosted the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
Michigan defeated Middle Tennessee 40–21. Middle Tennessee opened the scoring in the first quarter with an 18-yard touchdown run from Asher O'Hara, to take its first and only lead of the game. Michigan responded with a 34-yard field goal by Jake Moody, and a 36-yard touchdown pass from Shea Patterson to Tarik Black to take the lead. Michigan scored 17 points in the second quarter on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Nico Collins, a 28-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Sean McKeon, and a 27-yard field goal by Moody. Middle Tennessee responded with a two-yard touchdown pass from O'Hara to Jarrin Pierce, which made the score 27–14 in favor of Michigan at half-time. Michigan extended its lead in the third quarter on a six-yard touchdown run from Dylan McCaffrey. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Ben VanSumeren for Michigan, and a 59-yard touchdown pass from O'Hara to Jimmy Marshall for Middle Tennessee.
Freshman running back Zach Charbonnet became the first Wolverine true freshman to start at tailback in a season opener since Sam McGuffie in 2008, and just the fourth player to do since 1944.
Army
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Following its opening game against Middle Tennessee, Michigan hosted the Army Black Knights. This was the first meeting between the schools since 1962. Michigan won the previous meeting 17–7.
Michigan defeated Army 24–21 in double overtime. Army opened the scoring in the first quarter with a one-yard touchdown run from Sandon McCoy. Michigan responded with a two-yard touchdown run from Zach Charbonnet. Army regained the lead in the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Kelvin Hopkins Jr., which made the score 14–7 in favor of Army at half-time. Early in the second half, Army found itself in the red zone with an opportunity to take a two-score lead, however Hopkins threw an interception to Lavert Hill. Michigan responded with a one-yard touchdown run from Charbonnet to tie the game with 2:24 remaining in the third quarter. The game was scoreless for the remainder of regulation, and freshman Army kicker Cole Talley missed the would-be game-winning 50-yard field goal as time expired, after which the game went to overtime. In overtime, Army scored on a six-yard touchdown run from Hopkins. Michigan responded with a three-yard touchdown run from Charbonnet to force double overtime. In double overtime, Michigan scored on a 43-yard field goal by Moody. On Army's ensuing possession, Hopkins was sacked by Kwity Paye and Aidan Hutchinson, and the ball was fumbled and recovered by Josh Uche to seal the victory for the Wolverines.
Freshman running back Charbonnet had his first 100-yard rushing game, and posted three touchdowns. Michigan's defense held Army to just two pass completions on five attempts. It was the fewest completions by a Wolverine opponent since Rutgers also posted two pass completions in 2016.
At Wisconsin
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After playing Army and having a bye week, Michigan traveled to Madison to face the Wisconsin Badgers in its Big Ten Conference opener. Last season, Michigan defeated Wisconsin 38–13.
Michigan lost to Wisconsin 35–14. Wisconsin scored 14 points in the first quarter on two touchdown runs from Jonathan Taylor, from one-yard and 72-yards, respectively. Wisconsin added 14 points in the second quarter on two touchdown runs from Jack Coan, from 25-yards and two-yards, respectively, which made the score 28–0 in favor of Wisconsin at half-time. Wisconsin extended its lead in the third quarter on a two-yard touchdown run from Coan. Michigan finally got on the board late in the third quarter with a six-yard touchdown pass from Shea Patterson to Sean McKeon, and a two-point conversion pass from Patterson to Tarik Black, to avoid a shutout. Michigan scored the only points of the fourth quarter on a five-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Rutgers
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Following its game against Wisconsin, Michigan hosted the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Last season, Michigan won in a blowout, 42–7.
Michigan defeated Rutgers in a blowout 52–0. Michigan scored 14 points in the first quarter on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Shea Patterson to Nico Collins, and a two-yard touchdown run from Patterson. Michigan added 10 points in the second quarter on a four-yard touchdown run from Patterson and a 33-yard field goal by Jake Moody, which made the score 24–0 in favor of Michigan at half-time. Michigan added 14 points in the third quarter on a seven-yard touchdown run from Christian Turner and a one-yard touchdown run from Patterson. Michigan added 14 more points in the fourth quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Joe Milton and a 23-yard touchdown pass from Milton to Giles Jackson.
This was Michigan's first shutout victory since defeating Rutgers 78–0 in 2016. Patterson became the sixth quarterback in program history to rush for three touchdowns in a game, and the first to do so since Devin Gardner in 2013. Michigan's defense held Rutgers to 152 yards of total offense and just 2.9 yards per play. The last time Michigan held an opponent under 200 yards was Penn State (186) last season. Dan Jokisch, Alan Selzer and German Green all made their Michigan debuts during the game.
Iowa
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After facing Rutgers, Michigan hosted the Iowa Hawkeyes in its homecoming game. This was the first meeting between the two teams since 2016. In the previous meeting, Iowa upset Michigan, 13–14.
Michigan defeated Iowa 10–3. Michigan scored ten points in the first quarter on a 28-yard field goal by Jake Moody and a two-yard touchdown run from Zach Charbonnet. In the second quarter, Iowa responded with a 22-yard field goal by Keith Duncan, which made the score 10–3 in favor of Michigan at half-time. Both teams were held scoreless during the second half of the game.
Michigan's defense forced four turnovers, including three interceptions and one fumble and held Iowa to one rushing yard, the Hawkeyes averaged 217.5 rushing yards per game entering the game. The Wolverine's posted a season-high eight sacks, the first time they recorded at least five sacks in a game since 2017 against Purdue. This was Michigan's third game this season with multiple turnovers forced.
At Illinois
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After its homecoming game against Iowa, Michigan traveled to Champaign, Illinois to face the Illinois Fighting Illini. This was the first meeting between the two teams since 2016. Michigan won the previous meeting, 41–8.
Michigan defeated Illinois 42–25. Michigan scored 14 points in the first quarter on a 29-yard touchdown run from Hassan Haskins and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Shea Patterson to Luke Schoonmaker. Michigan added 14 points in the second quarter on a seven-yard touchdown run from Zach Charbonnet and a four-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Nick Eubanks. Illinois finally got on the board late in the first half on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Matt Robinson to Josh Imatorbhebhe, which made the score 28–7 in favor of Michigan at half-time. Illinois scored the only points of the third quarter on a 50-yard field goal by James McCourt and a one-yard touchdown run from Matt Robinson. Illinois opened the scoring in the fourth quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Dre Brown, and a two-point conversion run from Brown, reducing Michigan's lead to three points. Michigan responded with 14 points on a five-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Donovan Peoples-Jones and a one-yard touchdown run from Patterson.
Michigan recorded 162 rushing yards in the first quarter, the most by the Wolverines against a Big Ten opponent in the first quarter in 15 seasons. Michigan finished the game with a season-high 295 rushing yards. Freshman running back Zach Charbonnet had 108 rushing yards in the first half, becoming the first Wolverine to do so since Karan Higdon ran for 139 against Nebraska last season.
At Penn State
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Following its game against Illinois, Michigan traveled to Happy Valley to face the Penn State Nittany Lions. Last season, Michigan won in a blowout, 42–7.