The No. 9 Michigan football team’s season opener wasn’t exactly what fans are used to seeing. The Wolverines’ starters played the entire game, Fresno State made it a one-possession contest with 10 minutes left and it took until the fourth quarter for Michigan to put together a long touchdown drive.
Compare that to recent drubbings of Western Michigan, Colorado State and East Carolina in the first game of the season, and well, Saturday’s showing looks wholly unimpressive. With a newly-minted starting quarterback and head coach, any early slip-ups are magnified and doubt begins to swirl. With each drive that stalls out, people begin to wonder: Are the Wolverines any good? Can senior quarterback Davis Warren really lead the offense? Would junior Alex Orji be any better?
With so much uncertainty surrounding this new season, it’s fair to wonder. But after only one game — that Michigan won by three possessions — those questions aren’t worth panicking over. Because while Saturday’s season opener was far from perfect, it also isn’t a reason to freak out over the trajectory of the entire season.
To start, the Bulldogs are a much better team than Michigan’s other recent first opponents. Fresno State has had at least nine wins each of the past three years and returned an All-Conference honorable mention starting quarterback. The Broncos, Rams and Pirates, meanwhile, finished the seasons they played the Wolverines 8-5, 3-9 and 2-10, respectively.
Going from “bad Group of Five opponent” to “better Group of Five opponent” doesn’t suddenly absolve Michigan of any mistake it made on Saturday. While the Wolverines faced higher-quality competition, their offense still managed only 121 passing yards, and for three-plus quarters couldn’t get anything going. Save for its final touchdown drive, Michigan’s offense looked largely stagnant, unable to sustain a drive and move the ball down the field.
“It’s football, it’s not always gonna be perfect,” Moore said postgame. “It’s gonna be up and down.”
It’s true that for a good portion of Saturday’s game, the Wolverines’ offense was down. But the defense was up. Holding the Bulldogs to a measly nine rushing yards, the front seven looked the part of one of the best in the country — just as advertised. The secondary wasn’t without its flaws, but it still picked off two passes and returned one of them for a touchdown.
That’s the defense that led people to predict that Michigan can compete for a College Football Playoff spot this preseason. It’s the defense that helped get it there each of the past three years. While it features new players, it’s the level of defense that meant that in 2021, then-starting quarterback Cade McNamara only needed to average 184 yards to win 11 games.
And if 2021 is a comparable season for how the 2024 Wolverines can find success, then Saturday’s fourth quarter gave a glimpse of the path there. The offensive line started to gel. Graduate running back Kalel Mullings starred as a potential workhorse back. Junior tight end Colston Loveland established himself as Warren’s favorite target, and as Michigan settled in, it finally looked like the successful offenses of years past.
“I was praying we got another drive,” Warren said. “Because I felt like if we got another drive, we would have scored again.”
Granted, the Wolverines won’t get the same ramp-up period this season as they did in 2021. No. 4 Texas comes to town this week, and the Longhorns are as finished of a product as any other team in the country at this point. Led by star quarterback Quinn Ewers, they’re coming off a Week 1 drubbing against Colorado State of their own. Michigan won’t have three quarters to find their rhythm this week; the Wolverines will need to find it immediately to have a shot at the upset.
But at the end of the day, even Michigan’s first home loss since 2020 wouldn’t end its season. Playing three top-five teams will lend itself to picking up a loss or two, but it also means that the Wolverines have some leeway. The version of Michigan that took the field Week 1 didn’t look ready to face Texas — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a Playoff-caliber team.
“You’re just going to be a different team Week 3 than you are Week 2,” Moore said Monday. “You’re going to be a different team Week 1 than you are Week 2.”
That, effectively, is what the Wolverines’ slow start boils down to. They’re a work in progress, as was expected of them at the start of the season. But they also made progress in the fourth quarter on Saturday, and started laying out a formula for success.
So ahead of a marquee clash with the Longhorns, wonder about Moore, Warren and Michigan as a whole. Consider why it took the Wolverines 50 minutes to find a groove, or whether they can add a more explosive side to their offense.
But after a 20-point win over a capable opponent, don’t panic.
The post SportsTuesday: Don’t panic just yet appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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