A three-touchdown breakout from Bryson Kuzdzal could not have come at a better time for the Michigan football team. With Jordan Marshall and Justice Haynes banged up, the junior back carried 20 times for 100 yards and three scores in a 45-20 road rout of Maryland, giving the Wolverines exactly the kind of downhill identity they have been searching for late in the year.
The payoff showed up in the polls. In the new AP Top 25, Michigan is credited with the biggest rise of the week, climbing three spots to No. 15 after improving to 9-2.
The Wolverines now sit just behind Utah and ahead of Texas, with voters clearly rewarding both the margin of victory in College Park and the fact that the offense finally looked like a true complement to Bryce Underwood and the passing game.
Kuzdzal’s emergence changes the math for defenses. Michigan has leaned on a physical, clock-draining approach all fall, but depth at running back was starting to look thin.
If the Grand Rapids native can replicate even part of his Maryland performance, Sherrone Moore can roll fresh legs at opponents for four quarters instead of simply surviving the injury list.
That matters with No. 1 Ohio State looming. The Buckeyes are holding opponents to single digits on average, and they thrive on forcing offenses into obvious passing downs. A confident Kuzdzal gives the Michigan football team a chance to stay ahead of the chains, shorten the game, and let its own defense play from a position of strength.
Longer term, there is intrigue well beyond this season. Regent Jordan Acker recently raised eyebrows by suggesting that if the Big Ten moves ahead with private-equity investment over Michigan’s objections, the school has to at least consider all options once its grant-of-rights deal expires in 2036.
Independence or another conference is not on the table today, but the mere acknowledgment shows how seriously the administration is taking the financial reshaping of college sports.
For now, though, the focus in Ann Arbor is to make that jump to No. 15 a stepping stone instead of a peak.
