Michigan Wolverines walk-on wide receiver and punt returner Jake Thaw has officially entered his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal. Thaw is a two-year letterman at Michigan and finished the 2023 season with 16 punt returns for 101 yards.
Thaw earned Michigan’s primary punt returning duties this season because of his sure-handedness. However, Thaw’s strength almost etched him into Michigan lore for the wrong reasons.
Following freshman Semaj Morgan’s struggles in the Rose Bowl, Thaw stepped in to field a punt from Alabama with less than a minute to go. The thought was, “Thaw is reliable, let’s fair catch this punt and see if we can get into field goal position in a few plays.” Everything went sideways when Thaw muffed the punt at his own six-yard line, retreated to recover the ball at the one, and was hammered by three Crimson Tide players.
Although Thaw will be remembered for the near disastrous mistake, his recovery of the football in the worst moment of his life, prevented Alabama from winning the game in that moment. Yes, Thaw made a mistake, but he limited the impact and gave Michigan a chance to win the game in overtime.
Thaw will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Thaw is the first Wolverine to enter the portal following Michigan’s national championship victory on Monday. Michigan now has five players currently in the transfer portal: