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On the record
Called Shots →Rod Moore starts at least 3 of Michigan's first 4 games of the 2026 regular season.
John Henry Daley and Rod Moore both appear in Michigan's participation report for the September 5 opener against Western Michigan.
Oklahoma gains fewer than 5.5 yards per play against Michigan on September 12, 2026, measured as total offensive yards divided by total offensive plays in the official box score.
Written about him
Tommy Carr's first start is against a team that almost never gives the ball back
Michigan (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) hosts Indiana (6-1, 3-1), sixth in the AP poll, at Michigan Stadium at noon Eastern on Fox. DraftKings has Indiana by 7.5 with a total of 42.5 at 5:43 a.m. Eastern, which splits to about Indiana 25, Michigan 17.5. Tommy Carr, a true freshman, is expected to make his first start at quarterback; Kyle Whittingham said Monday the staff had decided and would not say who. Michigan scored all 21 of its points against Penn State after takeaways. Indiana has three turnovers in seven games, all fumbles, and Josh Hoover is 108 of 169 for 1,660 yards, 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. Indiana ran 51 times for 138 yards against Nebraska and Ohio State, sacks included. Michigan lists seven players Out and seven Questionable, among them Rod Moore Jr. and two linemen who started against Penn State; Indiana lists no one. Prediction: Indiana 20, Michigan 13.
The AP poll has UCLA ninth and skips Michigan. The ratings cannot tell them apart
Michigan beat Penn State 21-18 on October 17 and received no votes in Sunday's AP poll and 10 points in the coaches poll. UCLA, 6-0 and 4-0 in the Big Ten, is ninth in the AP poll and 10th in the coaches poll. ESPN's Football Power Index, updated October 21, rates UCLA 31st at 10.98 and Michigan 32nd at 10.91; SP+ rates UCLA 19th at 14.0 and Michigan 23rd at 13.0. FPI gives UCLA a 39.6% chance to make the College Football Playoff and Michigan 0.6%. Michigan lost to Iowa 20-19 and at Minnesota 20-14. By SP+, Michigan's defense is tied with Indiana's for second of 138 FBS teams behind Ohio State, and its offense is 75th. Ohio State and UCLA are 4-0 in the Big Ten and do not play each other; Indiana and USC are 3-1. Michigan and USC are the only Big Ten teams with Ohio State, UCLA and Indiana all still to play. Michigan's best possible conference record is 7-2. In 2024 and 2025, 12 teams from the four power conferences and Notre Dame finished the regular season 10-2 without winning a conference title; 5 made the playoff field, all ranked between 6th and 10th in the committee's final rankings, and none of the 14 that finished 9-3 without a title got in. Michigan's remaining six opponents include three SP+ top-11 teams, Indiana at home on Saturday and Oregon and Ohio State away. Rod Moore Jr. was carted off against Penn State; Andrew Sprague has missed four straight games. One take filed: Michigan beats UCLA on November 21.
Michigan completed nothing that travelled more than 11 yards in the air, and won
Michigan beat Penn State 21-18 without completing a pass that travelled more than 11 yards past the line of scrimmage. By the catch spots recorded in Michigan Athletics' official play-by-play, its 10 completions covered 41 yards in the air and 49 after the catch, and the four throws that went 25 yards or more downfield were two Tommy Carr incompletions and both Bryce Underwood interceptions. Across six games, Michigan has completed five passes of 20 or more air yards, all against Western Michigan and Iowa. Penn State's deep passing game was one receiver: the stat crew marked five of Rocco Becht's 44 throws as deep, all five went to Chase Sowell, and three were caught for 76 yards. In the run game, the second half's 14 runs up the middle were Michigan's season habit producing 10.1 yards a carry instead of the 4.0 it had averaged there in the first five games, and the ball moved to Savion Hiter, who carried twice before halftime and nine times after it. PFF's grades, cited as rankings only, had Avery Gach first in run blocking among the five linemen who started at the conventional spots, Manuel Beigel's run-blocking grade highest of any Michigan lineman, Rod Moore Jr. the highest-graded Michigan defender despite leaving in the third quarter, and Jyaire Hill last in coverage among the eight defensive backs who made a tackle. Kyle Whittingham said Monday he will not name the Indiana starter.
All 21 of Michigan's points came after Penn State gave the ball away
Michigan beat Penn State 21-18 at Michigan Stadium in front of 110,731 and is 4-2, 1-2 in the Big Ten. Penn State led 3-0 at halftime, when Michigan had 80 yards on 23 plays and two Bryce Underwood interceptions. Tommy Carr played the second half at quarterback. Rod Moore Jr. intercepted Rocco Becht on Penn State's first snap of the half, Chris Bracy intercepted him on the next possession and later forced a fumble on a sack, and Michigan scored a touchdown after each: Bryson Kuzdzal's 43-yard run, Jordan Marshall's 1-yard run and Carr's 12-yard run. Michigan's other nine possessions ended in six punts, two interceptions and the clock. Michigan ran 23 times for 174 yards after halftime, three of those runs for 20 or more, after one such run in its first five games. It threw 18 passes for 90 yards. Both Penn State touchdowns came the snap after a Michigan defensive penalty wiped out a third-down incompletion. Moore was carted off after his interception; Kyle Whittingham called it nothing major and said his availability for Indiana is debatable. Whittingham will say on Monday who starts at quarterback against Indiana.
Rod Moore Has Played Three Games Since The Start Of 2024. Michigan Has Voted Him A Captain Three Times.
Rod Moore tore his ACL in March 2024, did not appear in a game that season, came back for three games in the autumn of 2025 and has not played since October 11. In that time his teammates have voted him a captain three times, in 2024, in 2025 and again on Monday night. Michigan calls him the first player in school history to be voted a three-time captain, a sentence that turns on the word voted, and the university's own archive shows why.