Will Michigan tighten up the rotation?
It's one thing to put your best foot forward and get beaten. That's an easier pill to swallow than Michigan leaving some of its best players on the sideline for key plays due to what seems, at times, like a pre-determined substitution package.
Michigan's best pass rushers are Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham. That's not debatable. Barham makes some mistakes, especially against the run. Yet, he's a playmaker. Moore and Barham should play the majority of snaps.
Yet, Moore and Barham played 71 snaps total. Neither was on the field at the start of the final drive of the first half, after Michigan tied the game up at 7-7. The Wolverines had momentum, then subbed out two of its best defensive players, along with Rayshaun Benny to start the drive.
After USC was past the 50, the lineup changed, but this is something Michigan has done for years. It worked in 2023. It's not working in 2025. The best players need to play more. Dominic Nichols and Cameron Brandt don't need 59 snaps. That number should be closer to 30.
Cole Sullivan, one of the most impactful players on the defense, played 32 snaps in a game where his athleticism could have been used.
The scheme is one issue. Not utilizing your players correctly, like putting Rayshaun Benny on the EDGE, as if that didn't fail with Mason Graham trying to do it, turning an effective player into an ineffective player, is another.
Not much that Michigan does on defense makes sense. But the Wolverines need to stop being so exotic and they need to stop playing so many players. The arrogance is killing them.