What we learned from Michigan football’s win over Michigan State
Michigan football wins fourth straight vs Michigan State; Tony Garcia breaks it down on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 at Spartan Stadium.
EAST LANSING − Here are the Michigan football players who helped or hurt their stock in the Wolverines’ 31-20 win over Michigan State on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Spartan Stadium.
WinnersRB Justice Haynes
Haynes has now run for at least 100 yards and a touchdown in all six games he has finished in a Michigan uniform. The junior transfer from Alabama started slow with just one of his first nine rushes going for more than 5 yards, then had four straight rushes of 9 yards or more. The two game-changers were pickups of 20 and 28 to open the second half, part of his five rushes for 64 yards and a touchdown on the possession that turned the tide coming out of the half. Two drives later, he ran 14 yards around the left edge and walked into the end zone for a 24-7 lead. He had a lost fumble in the fourth quarter, and finished with 26 rushes for 153 yards.
LB Jimmy Rolder
Rolder played the game of his life in East Lansing, a tone that was set less than a minute into the game when he made a diving play an a ball rolling out of bounds to recover an Aidan Chiles fumble. He led the Wolverines in tackles with 10 and had a sack on a blitz up the A-gap in the first quarter to drop Chiles for a loss of 12. He had another tackle for loss on running back Makhi Frazier in the fourth quarter, forcing MSU into a second-and-12. His biggest play came moments later, on fourth-and-3 when he broke on a route to the flat and dove to break up a pass intended for Jack Velling which would have extended the Spartans’ drive.
“I stayed just because I love Michigan and I always believed in myself,” Rolder said of waiting his turn buried in the depth chart for this type of moment. “Knew I was going to be able to play here. It’s a blessing to be out there, starting with my guys out there.”
DE Derrick Moore
Moore made headlines this offseason with a video that showed him taking off his belt and hitting the ground while his teammates said they were going to take “belt to behind” to the Wolverines when they got to East Lansing. He backed up the talk. Moore finished with four solo tackles and a pair of sacks. He dropped Chiles on third down at midfield late in the first half with MSU looking to knot the score going into the break. He bulldozed tackle Stanton Ramil, came around the left side of MSU’s line and caught Chiles from behind for an intentional grounding. He added a sack in the final minutes, and had another called back on a defensive penalty.
LosersQB Bryce Underwood
The night started with a bang, with Underwood rushing for a 13-yard touchdown in the first quarter, but outside of that, it was his least impressive performance of the season. He didn’t have to do much, but completed just eight passes on 17 attempts for just 86 yards (5.1 yards per attempt). He connected on just 5 of 13 passes after a deep shot to Andrew Marsh on the first play of the second drive, with only one coming more than 5 yards downfield. He missed passes over the head of receivers in the end zone, and threw a pass out of bounds intended for Marlin Klein on the same play the two connected on vs. New Mexico for the first passing touchdown of the season. U-M called consecutive pass on second- and third-and-goal from the 3 on the opening drive and Underwood missed on both. He was off all night. U-M saw it and decided to lean on the run. Underwood had five carries for 26 yards, but against a defense that had been gashed by quarterbacks in recent weeks, this was underwhelming. Underwood had two “turnover worthy plays” per Pro Football Focus metrics.
WR Donaven McCulley
With a quarterback struggling, receivers will too, and McCulley was one of them. He caught the opening pass for 9 yards, then didn’t have a reception the rest of the night. On third-and-goal, Underwood overthrew the 6-foot-5 McCulley. On first down of the next possession, McCulley couldn’t run under a deep shot from Underwood. He couldn’t haul in a third-and-3 pass later when Underwood was pressured and rolled right, and then failed to haul in a deep shot up the left sideline midway through the second quarter. He wasn’t targeted in the second half.
WR Semaj Morgan
Morgan’s time as punt returner may be coming to an end. The staff hasn’t hinted at that, but the production leaves a lot to be desired. Morgan was targeted twice as a receiver and didn’t come down with either pass. One hit him in the numbers, but appeared to have been deflected just before, altering the path of the ball. He had an egregious fair catch inside U-M’s 5. Later, he fielded a punt with more than 10 yards of space in front of him, but tried to win side-to-side and was dropped for a gain of one. Morgan has 11 punt returns for 27 yards this season; he had 287 yards as a freshman for the national champions.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
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