It's Game Week
It's officially game week. As of today, Michigan is preparing for its season opener against Western Michigan and excitement is definitely building.
I'm personally geeked about the season starting. After last year, with only six games to cover and almost no face-to-face interaction, I couldn't be happier about things returning to normal, at least on some levels. People are going to be in Michigan Stadium, in-person media availabilities have already been taking place and in less than a week, the Wolverines will run out and slap the banner.
But don't mistake my excitement for unbridled optimism. I still have the Wolverines at 7-5. I will admit, hearing the players and coaches talk about the new energy, improved culture and togetherness does have me very curious about how things will look on the field, but I can't ignore how things looked last year or the plethora of changes that took place over the last eight months.
I'm encouraged by the leadership on this team. Guys like Ronnie Bell, Aidan Hutchinson and Josh Ross, along with Andrew Vastardis, have been selected as captains and that seems to be going well already. Hutchinson and Ross are Michigan guys through and through, and Bell is every coach's dream. That trio can speak out, lead by example and get it done on game day. That plays well in the locker room and could be enough to keep everyone on the same page through the expected ups and downs of the 2021 campaign.
I'm concerned about how many new coaches are doing new things. Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, safeties coach Ron Bellamy, cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale, running backs coach Mike Hart, linebackers coach George Helow and quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss are all new. That is A LOT of turnover in one season. Changes were necessary, but that's still a lot of new moving parts. Of those hires, Macdonald, Bellamy and Weiss are doing a job for the first time in their careers. Former tight ends coach Sherrone Moore is back, but he's also now doing something for the first time — he's coaching the offensive line. He's also helping Josh Gattis as co-offensive coordinator, which seems like a desperate move since Gattis has struggled. Overall, it just feels like a lot has to work out in order to achieve even modest success.
I'm encouraged by the talent on the roster. I'm not sure there's much elite, first-round talent in Ann Arbor, but there are enough good players on the team to win all but one game. Michigan has recruited better than every team it will play this year not named Ohio State. Penn State is also pretty talented, but U-M has done better or at least kept pace with the Nittany Lions on the recruiting trail over the last four or five years. Michigan's wide receivers are unproven but fast and versatile, its running back room is as stacked as any team in the Big Ten and the defense has a reliable, experienced star at each level in Hutchinson, Ross and Daxton Hill. Throw in veteran Brad Hawkins for good measure in the back end and there are studs littered all over the roster. Will the sum of those parts be good enough to win against other solid conference foes? That's what we're all about to find out.
I'm concerned about the schedule. With fans back in the stands this year, road games are going to feel as intense as ever and even U-M's home slate is going to be tricky. Traveling to Madison, East Lansing and Happy Valley is always tough, and welcoming in a very improved Indiana squad, along with Washington in week two and of course, the Buckeyes, makes for one of the toughest schedules in the country. Yardbarker.com recently dubbed U-M's schedule as the 16th toughest slate in the nation. Hell, even road games in Lincoln and at Maryland make you worry just a bit. Nebraska looks pretty sorry after losing its Week 0 opener at Illinois, but if Adrian Martinez busts off a couple long runs, you never know. As for Maryland, quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is solid and the Terps have landed some dynamic athletes in recent years. I have U-M winning both of those games, but road contests get weird sometimes.
All in all, I'm just glad Michigan football is back. I've never been more anxious to just see what the Wolverines look like. There are so many unknowns because of the new coaching staff, inexperienced players and bounce-back potential after the weirdest year in the history of college football.
There are only three games on the schedule I think Michigan will certainly win — Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Rutgers. On the flip side, there are only two games I think they'll definitely lose — Wisconsin and Ohio State. That means that 3-9 and 10-2 are the ends of the spectrum for me. That is the biggest win-loss differential I can remember in all my years of following and covering the team.
I don't know how much we'll truly see and learn on Saturday when U-M hosts Western, but I'm glad we'll be seeing and learning something.
