Michigan

Michigan football winners and losers: Sherrone Moore and QB play continue to doom

Published

1 year ago

October 21, 2024

Michigan football winners and losers: Sherrone Moore and QB play continue to doom

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia breaks down winners and losers for Michigan football after its 21-7 road loss Saturday to Illinois in Week 8 at Memorial Stadium:

Michigan football winners vs. Illinois

TE Colston Loveland

At this point, the names on the positive side of the ledger are not a surprise. It feels like Loveland is essentially the entire passing attack. The projected 2025 NFL draft first-round selection caught a team-high seven passes for 83 yards on Saturday and picked up four of Michigan’s eight first downs through the air. Jack Tuttle’s first two attempts toward Loveland fell incomplete, but seven of the final eight connected, which included a 29-yard downfield strike up the right sideline on fourth down to temporarily keep hope alive in the final quarter. Loveland also had consecutive catches for 16 and 10 yards on U-M’s lone scoring drive, and Pro Football Focus had him graded as U-M’s top rated offensive player with more than 15 snaps (75 grade).

RB Kalel Mullings

The next highest graded player with more than 15 snaps? Of course it was Mullings. Michigan’s standout running back was once again impressive, running 19 times for 87 yards and the team’s only touchdown. Mullings picked up Michigan’s only two first downs through the first four drives, and accounted for nine of the team’s 11 first downs on the ground throughout the day.

Michigan’s best drive came in the second quarter when it went 12 plays and 72 yards which ended with a Mullings’ 1-yard dive into the end zone on fourth down. It’s no coincidence he carried the ball on eight of the 12 plays, including the first four which helped set up a play-action pass. Even when factoring in the amount of short-yardage carries he got — seven came when U-M had two yards or fewer to gain for a first down — he still averaged nearly five yards per carry and 3.21 after contact.

DT Mason Graham

The box score never does justice to just how much of a game-wrecker Mason Graham is. He likes to tell reporters to “turn on the film,” and he backed it up vs. Illinois. U-M’s star junior interior lineman and projected first-rounder graded out as U-M’s top defender (86.2) in the game. He was third on the team with six tackles, which included a 5-yard tackle for loss on quarterback Luke Altmyer in the fourth. On the six plays where Graham made a tackle, Illinois amassed 4 total yards. He also made a big play on an early fourth-and-1, when he submarined the interior of the Illini front, which allowed Josiah Stewart and Jaishawn Barham to come around the edge, wrap up the tackle for loss and create a turnover on downs. Graham was also credited with four quarterback pressures, three hurries and one hit on 46 snaps.

Michigan football losers vs. Illinois

Head coach Sherrone Moore

Moore’s Wolverines (4-3, 2-2) are off to their worst seven-game start in a season since Brady Hoke’s 5-7 campaign in his final year in 2014. Yes, this was never going to look like 2023, not after losing 18 players to the NFL.

But to look like that after a bye week, feels like malpractice. Michigan lost the turnover battle to Illinois, 3-0, committed six penalties for 61 yards, got burned by a fake punt and missed a field goal for the first time all year among many issues.

U-M is back at a quarterback crossroads, something Moore must answer headed into a rivalry game against Michigan State. Moore says a lot of the right things. His players told athletic director Warde Manuel “you know who we want” when Jim Harbaugh ventured to the NFL, and Moore has seemingly worked well with players, coaches, donors, alumni and NIL collectives in the new era of college sports.

But the on-field product hasn’t worked. Before the games began, Moore implied there would be little-to-no falloff moving into this next chapter of Wolverines football. Clearly, that has not been the case.

REQUIRED READING: Sherrone Moore has a lot to prove in final 5 weeks of Michigan football’s season

QB Jack Tuttle

Tuttle’s No. 1 job was to protect the football. Instead, he has turned it over four times in the past five quarters, which included a fumble in the second quarter which led to an Illini field goal, and then a red-zone interception in the fourth which sealed the defeat. For the second time in as many appearances, Tuttle was the lowest graded Michigan player according to Pro Football Focus (28.7 overall), which included the worst passing grade for any U-M quarterback on the season (30.1).

The seventh-year signal caller completed 20 of 32 passes for 208 yards, but was 9 of 14 for 73 yards entering the final quarter down two touchdowns. It didn’t help he was under a lot of pressure and got sacked five times which lost 37 yards. Still, Tuttle took ownership for what happened postgame — namely an early attempt in the first quarter where he overthrew an open Loveland on a corner route.

“Can’t happen,” Tuttle said. “Terrible, it’s embarrassing … that changes the game, that’s one that gets you in your sleep at night.”

Michigan has started three quarterbacks through seven games, and looks no closer to the answer.

P Tommy Doman

In a game where 14 Illinois points came off a turnover or via a special teams trick play, every yard mattered and Doman didn’t help Michigan flip the field nearly enough. He punted three times, with a net average of 32.7 yards per attempt. His first, after an opening three-and-out, traveled 33 yards and Illinois began on its 40. His next, a shank, went 29 yards before his final attempt traveled 36 yards as Illinois began at its own 45. Its average field position was its own 36. For comparison, Illinois’ punter Hugh Robertson had four punts which averaged 46.2 yards per attempt, and three times U-M had to begin a possession inside the 20.

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Michigan

Michigan to distribute marijuana tax revenue: What your city will get

Published

6 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Michigan to distribute marijuana tax revenue: What your city will get

The Michigan Department of Treasury will distribute tax revenue collected from marijuana sales to municipalities and counties.
The government entities will get about $54,000 per retail store or microbusiness, based on nearly $94 million collected.
Detroit, once again, will receive the most money of any municipality.

Michigan municipalities and counties that allow recreational marijuana dispensaries are set to receive far less money this year than last in their annual portion of tax revenue collected from cannabis sales.

Sales declined in 2025 for the first time since legal recreational marijuana sales started in December 2019.

A total of 114 cities, 39 villages, 81 townships, 75 counties and four tribes will receive payments from the Marijuana Regulation Fund, according to a March 3 news release from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency. They will get about $54,000 per retail store or microbusiness, based on nearly $94 million collected.

Last year, each eligible government entity received a little more than $58,000 per business based on a total of nearly $100 million in marijuana tax revenue.

Detroit, once again, will receive the most money of any municipality. There are 61 active retailer licenses in Detroit, so the city will get nearly $3.3 million in tax revenue.

State law determines how the money is split. The Michigan Transportation Fund gets 35% of the revenue, which is used for the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges, and another 35% goes to the School Aid Fund to be used for K-12 education. The other 30% is split between municipalities, counties and tribes.

The payments come from revenue collected from the 10% recreational marijuana excise tax. This tax is separate from a new 24% wholesale tax that went into effect Jan. 1. The revenue from that tax will go to fixes for local roads.

Sales at recreational marijuana dispensaries declined by 3% last year to $3.17 billion, down from $3.28 billion in 2024, according to figures from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency, leading to the smaller payouts. More government entities also split the revenue compared with last year.

Payments to municipalities could get smaller if sales continue to decline. Recreational marijuana sales in Michigan plunged nearly 16% in January compared with December as heavy snow, cold temperatures and fears of higher prices due to the new 24% wholesale cannabis tax kept consumers at home.

While recent trends indicate a cooling period, a February report from Headset, a cannabis market intelligence firm, said the market — one of the largest in the country — has shown resilience over the last two years.

Below are the municipalities that received the most tax revenue:

Detroit: $3.3 million
Grand Rapids: $1.5 million
Lansing: $1.4 million
Ann Arbor: $1.2 million
Kalamazoo: $1 million
Flint: $648,000
Traverse City, Hazel Park and Adrian all will receive $594,000.

For a full list of municipalities, counties and tribes that will receive marijuana tax revenue, go to www.michigan.gov/treasury.

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com

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“Trustworthy” AI consortium focused on ethics, security launches in West Michigan

Published

18 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

“Trustworthy” AI consortium focused on ethics, security launches in West Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping everything from classroom conversations to social media, and leaders at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) say West Michigan is positioning itself to help determine how the technology is used, responsibly.

The university’s College of Computing is launching the West Michigan Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) Consortium, aimed at helping businesses, researchers and the community better understand how to use artificial intelligence.

Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along the Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public.

The effort is aimed at helping West Michigan industries adopt AI that fits their specific needs, while problem-solving for security, bias, privacy, and ethical concerns.

Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)

Marouane Kessentini, Ph.D, Dean of the GVSU College of Computing told News Channel 3 that a wide range of companies in the region are bringing forward questions of where, and how, to ethically integrate artificial intelligence into their practices.

“Here in West Michigan, we have a high concentration of many industries, health, manufacturing, and of course high-tech companies,” said Kessentini. “The first questions are about security, privacy, ethics and bias. It’s not just about deploying tools. It’s about deploying them responsibly.”

Kessentini said the consortium will focus on training, research and community education, with a heavy emphasis on data privacy, cybersecurity and misinformation.

“There are many examples where AI systems were trained on data that wasn’t diverse,” he said. “That can lead to inaccurate results. That’s why testing and training are critical.”

The consortium will bring together faculty researchers, students, and industry leaders, with weekly meetings planned to develop guidance for using AI at scale.

The goal is to help companies validate AI outputs, clean and manage data, and identify bias before systems are put into real-world use, especially in high-risk industries like healthcare and manufacturing.

Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated.

Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)

The initiative is backed by $1,031,000 in federal support, through the Community Project Funding (CPF) process, resources that U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten (D-MI-03) said she advocated for among members of congress in Washington.

“West Michigan should be leading the way in how artificial intelligence is developed and used, and that starts with investing in people and institutions we trust,” said Rep. Scholten. “This funding will help GVSU bring together educators, industry, and public partners to build AI systems that are ethical, secure, and transparent while preparing students for good-paying jobs and strengthening our region’s economy. I’m proud to support this work and to continue delivering federal investments that ensure West Michigan remains at the forefront of responsible innovation.”

It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe…

GVSU also launched an online certificate portal that is open for community members interested in learning about ethical AI use, for free.

Kessentini said the training is for the general public to learn how to navigate the technology, including the risks and limitations.

“It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe,” said Edgar Cruz, master’s student with a badge in cybersecurity.

Cruz is currently researching how AI systems can be attacked or manipulated with poisoned data, specifically as it relates to vehicle-to-vehicle communication, where AI helps self-driving cars exchange information like speed and position.

“We want to ensure that the system is robust and safe,” he said. “Because obviously people are involved.”

Kessentini said the consortium is designed to be a public resource, not just an academic project.

Quarterly community meetings will be open to the public, and training materials are available online through the College of Computing website.

“This is innovation with purpose,” he said. “We want to start here in Grand Rapids, but we want to make a global impact.”

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New Michigan O-line coach Jim Harding has one goal for spring practice

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

New Michigan O-line coach Jim Harding has one goal for spring practice

Jim Harding, Michigan’s new offensive line coach, has one goal coming out of spring practice: he wants to have a set starting five plus a solid sixth lineman for good measure.

Michigan begins spring practice March 17 and concludes with the spring game on April 18.

Harding, appearing on the Michigan in-house podcast, “In the Trenches” hosted by Jon Jansen, joined new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham’s staff from Utah, where Whittingham was head coach the last 21 years. Harding spoke about a number of topics, including returning to the Midwest — he grew up in Maumee, Ohio, and his wife is from Farmington Hills — and his love for the Detroit Tigers, but most important was his discussion about building the Wolverines’ offensive line.

“I’d like to establish the starting five where you feel good that when you go into fall camp,” Harding said on the podcast that posted Wednesday. “Those are the guys that are working together immediately from Day 1.”

Harding said he uses a sixth lineman — he terms that player the “rhino” — quite a bit and would like to have at least two ready to go. The Wolverines also need depth at center considering only Jake Guarnera has snapped in a game.

“And then just having that physicality, nastiness of the offensive line,” Harding said. “Just kind of develop that.”

Since arriving earlier this year at Michigan, Harding said he’s been impressed by the linemen and their desire to work hard on conditioning and developing their craft by asking questions and wanting feedback. They have gone to dinner as a group to get to know each other away from the facility, and Harding has enjoyed the process.

“The things that you can’t measure right now is our physicality or our toughness, things like that,” Harding said. “I’m confident that it won’t be an issue, but that’s kind of the next step once we get pads on, (finding out) who are kind of the Alpha dogs in the room that are going to set the tone for the unit, and then, obviously, the offense. But really pleased with what I’ve seen so far.”

Harding shared offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s approach to installing the offense.

“The way (Beck) runs it, everything’s on the table Day 1 in practice,” Harding said on the podcast. “So we’ll get a script with, if you count red zone, probably 60 or so plays, and any play can be called. It’s really unique, and I’d never done it this way, but Coach Beck, actually calls it like he does in the game. There are no scripts, and so we’ll just move the ball down the field, and if it’s a third play and it’s third and 3, well he’s going to call a third-and-3 call.

“So you really have to have the kids prepared for all 60 of those. And then the next day there’ll be maybe different formations and things like that once we get the concepts down in the O-line room for the run game. Now it’s just a matter of dressing up different things. It’s a lot of stuff early on, because every run scheme we have could be called on that first day, every pass protection we have could be called on that first day. So it’s a front-loaded installation.”

achengelis@detroitnews.com

@chengelis

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