Michigan Wolverines gets critical injury updates from Biff Poggi just in time for Big Ten matchup against Nebraska and Dylan Raiola

Michigan could get boost to both sides of the ball with big-time players possibly back

Travis May — College Football Managing Editor
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The Michigan Wolverines have had an up-and-down start to their 2025 college football season. First an easy win over New Mexico, with some obvious improvements needed. A terrible game across the board at Oklahoma. Then last week Bryce Underwood was unleashed against Central Michigan as the team looked ready to take on the world.

Big Ten football kicks off for Michigan this week against a red hot Dylan Raiola and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, but the Wolverines just got some critical injury updates that might make a big difference in that game. Biff Poggi (still in place of suspended Sherrone Moore) shared his thoughts on some key players that could come up huge against Nebraska.

Veteran defensive back Rod Moore and offensive lineman Brady Norton could both be back against Nebraska

Michigan fans have been waiting a long time to see star safety Rod Moore back on the football field. Moore played over 1200 snaps across 2022 and 2023 in Michigan’s College Football Playoff semifinal and National Championship seasons. Unfortunately, he was lost to injury for the entire 2024 due to a torn ACL and meniscus. He’s still been in recovery ever since, but looks like he’s about good to go now based on what interim coach Biff Poggi had to say this week:

“Rod [Moore] is really progressing well. He could have played this past week, but I really think you’ll see Rod this week at Nebraska. And the two guards–talking about Gio [El-Hadi] and Brady [Norton]. We think there’s a real good chance Brady will be back–practicing this week and back. And Gio’s going to be a little bit longer, but will return in a couple weeks.”

The offensive line for Michigan really needs to be healthy for Big Ten play (and we’ll get to that shortly), but getting Rod Moore back on the field could really bring the entire defensive unit together. He’s already looked good during warm-ups two weeks in a row. He “could have” played last week. There’s no better time to unleash him than against a Nebraska team that just put up 59 points last week against Houston Christian.

For those who may have forgotten, Moore was absolutely shutdown-good in coverage two seasons in a row back in 2022 and 2023. He intercepted six passes, allowed a collective passer rating of less than 60 when targeted, and gave up less than nine yards per reception in 2023.

Yes, it’s been nice to see other leaders step up like Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham at linebacker. Brandyn Hillman is having a breakout year at safety too. Moore should complete what might be an extremely special defense.

The Wolverines are already top 40 in EPA per and raw yards per drop back, plus top 50 in pass success rate allowed. Adding a top five safety in the country to the mix should be key in slowing down Nebraska’s passing attack.

The offensive line should be fine for Michigan with or without Brady Norton and Gio El-Hadi

As for the offensive line, it certainly looked suspect the last time that Michigan played a good team at Oklahoma. However, the unit has already gelled well since, adding experience to the depth thanks to some of the absences at guard (in Brady Norton and Gio El-Hadi).

As Biff Poggi stated, Norton should likely be back in play right guard for Michigan this week after a full week of practice. El-Hadi is likely out again, but the good news is that both the other guards behind Norton and El-Hadi have looked great in their stead.

Nathan Efobi was thrust into a more significant role than he was expecting at Oklahoma and played a bit uneven, but he played near perfect last week. Poggi said himself that Jake Guarnera stepped up and played well in his first start last week (especially dominant in run blocking on a few plays).

Regardless of how healthy Norton or El-Hadi are in the near future it’s great to see that Michigan’s offensive line should be fine either way. The early season injuries are never easy to juggle, but the extra experience for the depth might just be what Michigan’s unit needed. Now they’re getting mostly healthy at just the right time to face off against Nebraska and the rest of the Big Ten. That should certainly help keep Bryce Underwood’s momentum and development rolling.

We’ll be back with more Michigan Wolverines coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

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