Biggest Questions Michigan Football Still Faces Before Week 1

Michigan football will kick off their season on September 5th at home against the Western Michigan Broncos. It will be Kyle Whiggingham's first game as the head coach for Michigan, and they still have some questions that need to be answered before the season kicks off. Let's dive more into those below.

Question #1: Who wins the position battles?

Michigan offensive lineman Blake Frazier gets ready for a play against Purdue during the second half | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Michigan has a number of position battles seemingly still up in the air as they head into game week preparation. From left tackle, to wide receiver #3, to the defensive end starter opposite of John Henry Daley, these are all position battles that appear to be going down to the wire. How those battles get decided could change the floor and ceiling for this Michigan football team depending on who wins them.

Question #2: How much of the new schemes will be installed prior to week 1?

Michigan defensive coordinator Jay Hill watches a play during the spring game | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

With two new coordinators comes two new schemes the players need to learn ahead of the season. Just how much scheme they're able to get the players to digest ahead of their first game will go a long ways in deciding how much of it ultimately gets rolled out during the course of the regular season. Ideally you'd like to have 100% of both your offensive and defensive calls available to you when you enter the season but that may not be possible if the players can't pick it up fast enough.

At least on defense, Jay Hill recently stated that U-M has "100%" of its fall camp playbook already installed. If that is truly the case, that could be a really good sign that the defense will be ready to hit the ground running early on in 2026.

Question #3: How much will the passing game improve?

Michigan Football student-athlete Bryce Underwood speaks during Big Ten Media Days at Hilton Chicago | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This is perhaps the biggest question yet to be answered, because by all accounts Michigan will have a better passing game this year than they did last year. They improved the quality of the wide receiver room, and Jason Beck's offense is well thought out in terms of making it easier on his quarterbacks.

Both of these things combined should make this passing game more of a threat this season. Just improving from last year though is not necessarily a hard thing to do, given that Bryce Underwood averaged just over 186 yards per game through the air last season.

The question that still needs to be answered, is just exactly how much better will the passing game be? Nobody knows for sure, but based on the recent reports coming out of fall camp practice, Bryce Underwood has taken a step forward in fall camp and if he can continue that success into the regular season, the Wolverines could be in for a massive boost to the passing game.

The reason it's so important is because if the passing game can get to an above average level, then you combine that with what is expected to be an elite running game for the Wolverines, they might be a very difficult offense to stop this season.

They do play a very tough schedule but with a greatly improved passing game there's really no ceiling that this team can't reach. The only thing left to find out is just how much will the passing game improve, and Wolverine fans will have to wait for that question to be answered in their first game of the season.

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