Wolverines Ups & Downs: Who Stood Out In Michigan’s Citrus Bowl Loss To Texas

Michigan’s season has officially come to a close, but it didn’t go quietly. 

December saw former head coach Sherrone Moore fired due to an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, the subsequent arrest of Moore, and the scramble to find a new head coach. To cap it all off, the Wolverines still had to face a Texas team hungry to prove it belonged in the College Football Playoff.

Michigan ultimately came up short, losing 41-27 at the hands of the Longhorns, dropping the Wolverines to 9-4 on the season.

Despite the loss, and considering the circumstances, Michigan played three quarters of very solid football. Now, that’s no consolation for a loss, but it’s reflected in these ‘Ups’ and ‘Downs.’ There was a lot of good in this game, yet when it came down to it, perhaps the mistakes sang louder.

Here are four ‘Ups’ and two ‘Downs’ from Michigan’s final game of 2025…

Freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh had a quiet day on the receiving side of things. He brought in three catches on six targets for just 10 yards and a touchdown. But it wasn’t as a receiver where he stood out, it was as a return man.

The Wolverines have struggled all season when it comes to special teams, especially on returns. For most of the year, junior wide receiver Semaj Morgan took return reps, but Marsh took over for him late in the season. Saturday afternoon, Marsh showed what he could do.

He amassed 143 kick-off return yards as well as 10 punt return yards. After a year of struggling in that department, Marsh’s performance was a great sign for the future.

For much of this game, freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood played quite well. Especially with his two star running backs out with injury, Underwood was tasked with a higher workload throwing the ball. He finished with a season-high 42 pass attempts, completing 23 of them for 199 yards and two touchdowns.

His big mistakes came in the form of interceptions, of which he had three. All three came in the second half, and two in critical moments in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines offense, which had looked quite good in the first half, couldn’t overcome the giveaways.

Underwood had a good game running the ball, collecting 77 yards and a touchdown on the ground, but the three interceptions overshadowed that.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Underwood is just a freshman, and freshmen make freshman mistakes. He showed immense promise and improvement as the season went on, and he has an entire offseason to work on the finer aspects of being a Big Ten quarterback.

Former walk-on and junior running back Bryson Kuzdzal was asked to do a lot for Michigan down the stretch. Against both Ohio State and Texas, he was called upon to brunt lead back duties, and while he didn’t put up the same numbers as Justice Haynes or Jordan Marshall, he did everything he was asked to do.

Against the Longhorns, he rushed for a respectable 82 yards on 20 attempts. Who knows what Kuzdzal’s role is moving forward, because with Haynes’ potential return, Marshall’s likely return, and the arrival of five-star running back Savion Hiter, the running back room could be awfully full. Regardless, Kuzdzal has put his name forward as someone who can be relied upon with major tasks.

For the game, Michigan racked up nine penalties totaling 95 yards, some of which were quite costly.

In the third quarter, the Wolverines thought they had forced Texas into a third-and-long on its own side of the field, instead, the Longhorns got a free 15 yards due to a roughing the passer penalty. Texas ended up scoring a touchdown on that drive.

Also in the third quarter, Underwood had seemingly picked up a first down just five yards out from the end zone. But the five yard rush was called back due to a block in the back from graduate wide receiver Donaven McCulley. Instead of a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line, the Wolverines had a second-and-17 at the 25-yard line and were eventually forced to settle for a field goal.

Sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan had been great all season, and the Citrus Bowl was no exception. He forced a big fumble in the first half which led to Michigan’s first touchdown, led the team in total tackles, and broke up a pass.

The Wolverines’ defense as a whole is quite young, but Sullivan might just be the best young star on that side of the ball. He battled some injuries this season, but he looks like he’ll be a major contributor for several years if he sticks around.

Michigan kept its offense on the field for six fourth downs, and it converted on five of them. When the Wolverines needed a few yards to keep the drive alive, they got them.

To a degree, it was these conversions that kept Michigan in the game. On their final touchdown drive of the game, the Wolverines converted two fourth downs on a single drive which eventually resulted in a touchdown. That touchdown gave them a 27-24 lead at the time.

While it didn’t result in a win, Michigan’s execution on fourth downs was a bright spot

Junior wide receiver Kendrick Bell caught his first receiving touchdown of his career on a spectacular grab…Graduate wide receiver Donaven McCulley hauled in four catches for 39 yards…Junior defensive back TJ Metcalf collected seven tackles and a pass break-up.