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The Michigan football team is currently 10-0 and ranked #3 in the country with just two games remaining in the regular season. The interesting part about the Wolverines' record is that they have picked up four of those 10 wins without Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines. It will also be interesting to see this Michigan team perform in the final two weeks of the season, because they won't have Harbaugh for those games either. There was originally supposed to be a hearing on Friday to potentially end Harbaugh's current suspension, but the Wolverines decided to accept the three game penalty.
In the final two weeks of the season, Michigan will take on Maryland football and Ohio State without their head coach. The Wolverines got the job done last week in Happy Valley against #10 Penn State with Sherrone Moore as the acting head coach, and they have to do for it for the next two weeks as well.
Michigan's matchup with Maryland this week provides an interesting challenge for the defense as the Wolverines are going up against Josh Gattis, the offensive coordinator for Maryland. Gattis was the offensive coordinator for Michigan when they won the Big Ten championship and made the College Football Playoff in 2021. He ruffled some feathers in the fan base when he left after the season because he left for another OC job, as he went down to Miami Florida. Things didn't pan out there, and Gattis is now the OC at Maryland.
The Maryland defense can be dangerous at times with Taulia Tagovailoa running the show, and the Michigan football defense is impressed with what Gattis has been able to do with him.
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“Coach (Josh) Gattis has done an amazing job with him and being creative and doing what he can do,” Michigan defensive line coach Mike Elston said, according to an article from Blue By Ninety. “He’s a big challenge for us this week and probably the biggest run threat that we’ve seen this season. Not probably — definitely the biggest run threat.”
This Michigan defense is familiar with Josh Gattis, and they are also familiar with Tagovailoa. The Wolverines have had to face him a couple of times in recent years, and while they have won each time, they know that he can be dangerous.
“He (Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa) is an elite playmaker,” Elston said. “He’s a challenge for any defense. He’s very talented with his arm, very talented escaping the pocket and keeping plays alive. He makes a lot of big plays on the run, throwing the ball, he makes a lot of plays just running the ball.”
Michigan is coming into this game favored by 19 points, but it has trap game written all over it. The Wolverines will be on the road, and it's the week before the Ohio State game. Michigan had a home game against Illinois the week before they played the Buckeyes last year, and it took a late field goal to get the win. You never know what is going to happen in college football, and this could end up being a close one.
