Michigan Monday: Game 4 vs. Maryland

Game Notes Nuggets

• Following three non-conference games to begin the 2022 season, U-M is now on to Big Ten play. The Wolverines have 50 wins in the program’s last 54 Big Ten openers.

• Forty (40) players have seen their first playing time as Wolverines this season. That figure includes five different first-year Wolverines who joined the team via transfer, meaning 35 players have made collegiate debuts so far.

• U-M boasts the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense (55.3 points per game) and the No. 4 scoring defense (5.7 points allowed per game) through three weeks.

• The 17 points Michigan has allowed thus far represent the lowest total at this stage of the year since the 2003 squad limited its first three opponents to 10 combined points. 

• Each of U-M’s first three opponents has failed to score in the first half and 14 of 17 points overall have been scored in the fourth quarter.

• No Michigan squad had ever opened the season with three consecutive games scoring 50 points until the 2022 team accomplished the feat. The last three-game stretch of any kind which saw the Maize and Blue score 50-plus points came in 1903. During that season, U-M won five consecutive games with scores of 76-0, 79-0, 65-0, 51-0, and 88-0.

• The Wolverines have secured victory with a margin of 40-plus points in each of the first three games (51-7, 56-10, 59-0). The last time Michigan won three straight games with a scoring margin of 40 points or more was during the 1991 season, when it beat Minnesota, 52-6, Purdue, 42-0, and Northwestern, 59-14.

• In his second career start, J.J. McCarthy continued to complete passes at a high clip. This season, he is 30-of-34 passing for 473 yards (13.9 yards per attempt) and three touchdowns, plus another on the run. That adds up to an 8.8 touchdown percentage this season, in line with his 8.6 career percentage (on 93 passes).

• So far, 20 different Wolverines have at least one catch this season. Ronnie Bell (14 catches) leads the group in receptions and yards (181) and Roman Wilson (two) leads in touchdowns. Wilson (one rushing, three total) has three touchdowns on seven offensive touches total.

• The U-M offensive line has allowed nine negative plays on 192 offensive snaps (three in each game), or on 4.6 percent of all offensive snaps. On average, Wolverine passers are hurried just once per game. The line has helped bolster the run game to the tune of 6.2 sack-adjusted rush yards per attempt and 7.8 yards per play overall.