3 Game Predictions for Michigan Football's Final Non-Conference Game Against UTEP

Get ready for the monsoon in The Big House on Saturday afternoon. It appears the Michigan Wolverines will welcome the UTEP Miners, and a heavy dose of rain for Saturday’s final non-conference battle.

That can bode well for Michigan’s defense, which should be able to build off last week’s dominant performance. The offense? That’s a different story. That could make things more difficult for a group that has had trouble moving the ball and scoring points through two weeks of the regular season.

Weather can be an equalizer in a game between one team that should be vastly superior to the other.

While we don’t anticipate Michigan struggling with UTEP on Saturday, the weather could make things look a little uglier than what the fan base is hoping for after the first two games of the year.

With that in mind, here are our predictions for Saturday’s tilt.

Back to Their Roots

Through two weeks, Michigan’s run game has had trouble finding much traction on the ground. Their leading rusher through two weeks is their quarterback. That’s not necessarily the worst thing. Bryce Underwood is a gifted runner. Using his legs was clearly a big part of the gameplan last week against Oklahoma.

Still, asking Underwood to run the ball 18 times in every game is a recipe for him to get hurt. Michigan has run too many plays that move side-to-side. Jordan Marshall is a powerful, downhill runner. Savion Hiter has plenty of power to spare as well.

Through each of the first two weeks, Kyle Whittingham has made a comment about how many runs are moving east and west as opposed to north and south.

This week, Michigan leans on its big offensive line in a knockdown, slugfest type of manner. That means getting Jordan Marshall with his pads square to the line of scrimmage, and moving downhill. Savion Hiter will be asked to do the same, and the result will be a big week on the ground.

Less Runs for the Quarterback

As previously mentioned, Underwood has been the team’s leading rusher through two weeks of the regular season. Underwood is supposed to be a supplement to their ground game, not the driving force.

This week, against an inferior opponent, the bet here is that Michigan tries to protect its starting quarterback by taking the ball out of his hands a little more on the ground. They will still do what they need to do in order to win the game first, but protecting the quarterback has to be a priority as well.

I’m betting that Underwood has less than 10 carries, and a even fewer designed runs. The goal will be keeping him healthy for conference play.

Defense Pitches a Shutout

Michigan’s defense has been incredible through two weeks. They’ve allowed just one touchdown through eight quarters. Nearly all of Western Michigan’s points came off mistakes from Michigan’s offense.

Oklahoma was really only able to put together two drives, which led to the 10 points they scored on the day. They have a violent defensive line combined with a ball hawking secondary.

Michigan will get tested by a mobile quarterback, and the elements could be a challenge, but this feels like a game where the Wolverines’ defense can overwhelm its opponent.

This week, they do just that, and put up a goose egg on the Miners.

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