Michigan Football Back in Playoff Talk — For One Big Reason

After a win over Oklahoma, Michigan has already emerged back into playoff talk.

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The tune surrounding the Michigan Wolverines has really changed from Week 1 to Week 2. The Wolverines' last-second Hail Mary win feels like a long time ago after Michigan beat Oklahoma 17-10 in the Big House.

Michigan returned to the AP Top 25 poll after a brief exit and now it's the Oregon Ducks who are under the spotlight after an embarrassing loss to Oklahoma State.

While there are still 10 games to be played before the postseason, Michigan is a team that's emerging as a College Football Playoff team following its win over the Sooners. On3's Andy Staples has the Wolverines back in his top 12 with the Wolverines sitting at No. 9.

"Some of you will hate this pick because Michigan should have lost to Western Michigan. But the Wolverines didn’t lose, and they followed that by stuffing Oklahoma repeatedly in a 17-10 win. Perhaps the Sooners aren’t as good as we predicted, but my suspicion is this win will look excellent at the end of the year. Wolverines QB Bryce Underwood improved dramatically from game one to game two. He’ll probably look fine against UTEP. The next true test comes week four at home against Iowa," Staples wrote.

Michigan's defense leads the way

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Through two weeks, it's quite clear that the Wolverines are going to lean on their defense to win games. We did see a big difference in Bryce Underwood from the first game to the second. His stats aren't going to awe anyone, but he was decisive and he did what the defense told him to do.

Michigan ran Underwood as it should and he did a much better job of going through his progressions. But aside from Underwood, Michigan struggled to get its run game going. Jordan Marshall has been ineffective for two games in a row and Jason Beck has his work cut out to get that figured out.

But Jay Hill's unit has been fantastic. The Wolverines forced two turnovers against the Sooners and Michigan's defensive line appears to be a real strength for the team. Dom Nichols has come into his own and John Henry Daley appears to be back in form.

You have to assume the Wolverines' offense is going to figure things out, and a Week 3 contest against UTEP could be the key to unlocking the offense. But if Michigan's defense is going to keep playing like this — the Wolverines are going to be tough to beat thanks to that unit.

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