The Michigan Wolverines are big favorites against Fresno State, but there is plenty to watch on Saturday. Here are five questions we have heading into the season opener:
As the Michigan Wolverines take the field Saturday evening, there will be no shortage of things to keep an eye on. Being three-score favorites over Fresno State, the intrigue will (hopefully) be less about the scoreboard and more about the approach from Sherrone Moore and his revamped staff as they look to defend Big Ten and national titles. Expectations for the season vary, but fans will definitely want to exit the first game with both security and optimism.
There are question marks all over this team with so many new starters, especially on offense, and new play callers on both sides of the ball. Moore himself is still an unknown quantity too, even though he has had substantial experience at the helm last year. Considering all these changes, here are the five most important questions Michigan can answer in the season opener.
No. 1: What is the plan at quarterback?
Going to keep this one shorter since it has been discussed ad nauseam all offseason. I expect at least three quarterbacks to take snaps against Fresno State, but the order they enter the game and how many drives each one gets will be telling. Does Alex Orji look like a competent passer? How much does the offense change between Orji and Davis Warren? Is Jack Tuttle healthy enough for meaningful reps? Even if the battle is not fully resolved, we will have a much clearer picture of the position on Sunday morning.
No. 2: How aggressive will the offense be?
Relatedly, I am extremely curious to see how willing Michigan will be to throw the ball. This is really only relevant while the game is competitive, but in neutral situations I want to see how often Moore and Kirk Campbell opt to throw, especially when Orji is in the game. The drop-off from J.J. McCarthy to this group of quarterbacks is substantial, and aside from Colston Loveland and perhaps Donovan Edwards, the pass-catching group is unproven. Add in Moore’s own background and it would be no surprise to see the Wolverines lean heavily on the run game.
However, is that going to be enough against the better teams on the schedule this season? Michigan grinded away against inferior competition last year, but when it got to third down McCarthy was not afraid to let it rip. The Wolverines are going to need to have some sort of passing threat, and even if much of the playbook is kept on the shelf until next week, seeing some passing tendencies in Week 1 is important.
No. 3: Will the defense continue to rotate heavily?
The top-end of the Michigan defense has not dropped down at all, and that will keep this team in contention for much of the season. Beneath that, though, are names across the two-deep that really do not have much experience. Last season Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant were able to stay fresh by rotating in and out with Kris Jenkins; what happens now with a significant gap between them and DT3?
The Wolverines also rotated through a ton of different defensive backs in most games last year. While there are plenty of options to choose from between incoming transfers and depth pieces waiting for their chance, there is a distinct lack of high-level experience from much of this room. I do think Wink Martindale is going to get as many players on the field as possible, but the gap in performance between the starters and backups is going to feel more pronounced than in 2023.
No. 4: Is there a regression from the offensive line?
Not many schools can lose six offensive linemen and expect to still have a strong group up front, but Michigan is not like most schools. This unit has experience, with Myles Hinton and Josh Priebe coming to Ann Arbor with many snaps under their belt, while Greg Crippen, Giovanni El-Hadi, and Andrew Gentry have been in school for multiple years already.
As much as the offensive line has been a strength for the Wolverines over their three-year run, it is not as if 2023 was some sort of gold standard. Yes, last season’s starting five (plus Trente Jones) was very solid, but it was a step back from the Joe Moore Award-winning groups of 2021 and 2022 (see: pass protection against Penn State). Expecting this season’s line to need some time to gel is reasonable, but there is a good chance that this group surprises some people nationally in terms of how familiar it looks to previous iterations.
No. 5: How accurate were all of the blitz takes?
The first reaction upon the hiring of Martindale was an acceptance that this defense is going to be extremely blitz happy. After all, that was the defensive coordinator’s reputation during his NFL tenure, and of course that must be what Moore is planning for with his addition, right? While personnel groups change, coaching preferences are much more cemented, and expecting a coach with a history like Martindale’s to reinvent himself is a little farfetched.
Of course, we have no idea if that is going to be true or not. There are already indications Martindale is aware of this narrative and is not necessarily in agreement. There are also reasons to suggest that given the defense’s strengths — and weaknesses — that an aggressive philosophy might actually be the way to go this fall. We probably will not get the complete picture of Martindale’s tactics after just one game, but how much he chooses to blitz (or not blitz) will be a good preview of what is to come.