Jim Harbaugh to the Los Angeles Chargers (January 24). J.J. McCarthy to the Minnesota Vikings. Blake Corum to the Los Angeles Rams. The 15-0 title roster's three most visible exits on the same three-week calendar; Sherrone Moore's first roster had to be built around the absences.
2024 — The Year After The Crown — 8-5 and Rebuilding
Michigan went 8-5 in Sherrone Moore's first year as head coach, lost to Ohio State 13-10 in Columbus after beating them 13-10 in Ann Arbor in 2023, and produced the program's post-title rebuild chapter.
The Shape — week-by-week · cumulative W–L below
Who carried it
- Davis WarrenQB1,198 passing yards
- Jack TuttleQB306 passing yards
- Kalel MullingsRB948 rushing yards
- Donovan EdwardsRB589 rushing yards
- Alex OrjiQB269 rushing yards
- Colston LovelandTE582 receiving yards
- Tyler MorrisWR248 receiving yards
- Ernest HausmannLB89 tackles
- Jaishawn BarhamLB66 tackles
- Mason GrahamDL46 tackles
- Josaiah StewartDE8.5 sacks
- TJ GuyEDGE5.5 sacks
- Derrick MooreEDGE4 sacks
Season leaders, 2024.
The Game, November 30. Ohio State 13, Michigan 10 in Ann Arbor. The fifth straight The-Game meeting decided by 7 points or fewer; the program's first loss in the rivalry since 2020. A quiet loss — no trophy, no drama, just the structural fact that the 15-0 team had dispersed.
ReliaQuest Bowl, December 31. Michigan 19, Alabama 13. Bryce Underwood committed shortly after; the bowl-win argument closed the Moore-era year-one chapter on a positive note; the program's 2025 roster-build could proceed.
"The total isn't finished. The total never is."
2024 is the post-title chapter Michigan's Maize-and-Blue register had been expecting since 1997. An 8-5 year after a 15-0 title is what the sport's structural gravity produces when a decade's worth of roster decisions converge into a single championship and then the roster disperses. The Moore era's year-one floor is the specific chapter's load-bearing fact; the Alabama bowl win is the optimistic closing sentence. Bryce Underwood's commitment (flipped from LSU; highest-ranked QB commit in Michigan history) is the chapter's structural note outside the scoreboard. The 'proud-institutional' voice did not slip during the year; the program named the transition for what it was, and the fanbase held the line. What Michigan does in 2025 with the incoming five-star class and the offensive-line depth is the test 2024 set up.