ANN ARBOR, Mich. – On the eve of this season’s final non-conference game, I’m finally ready to say it: Michigan football should have scheduled at least one decent opponent.
On Saturday, the Wolverines will play their third game of the season against Bowling Green as a 40-point favorite. This comes after being favored by more than 30 points in each of their first two games against East Carolina and UNLV.
Does it really matter? Probably not, but it would have been nice to see Michigan face at least once semi-challenge before Big Ten play.
This Michigan team looks to be really, really special. J.J. McCarthy is playing on another level, making almost every throw and using his legs to extend plays. It’s been a long time since Michigan had a genuine first-round caliber quarterback, but McCarthy looks the part.
On defense, the tackles are game wreckers. Everything starts with Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and Kris Jenkins, but their supporting cast isn’t bad, either. Even without the likes of Will Johnson and Rod Moore, the first- and second-string defensive units haven’t allowed a single point through two games.
Michigan could have dominated a middle-tier Power Five program this year, and then nobody would mention the schedule again. But instead, after another beatdown on Saturday night, it’s all we’ll hear about for the next two months.
It almost feels like a waste to have all this talent and spend the first quarter of the season beating up on five-touchdown underdogs.
But it can’t be helped now, so Michigan has to take care of business again, this time under the new and improved Big House lights. Night games at Michigan Stadium are always electric, so Bowling Green is in for a tough atmosphere.
If you’re like me, and craving football that’s a bit more competitive, there’s plenty to watch before Michigan kicks off at 7:30 p.m.
At noon, No. 14 LSU travels to Mississippi State, No. 15 Kansas State visits Missouri, and Illinois hosts No. 7 Penn State -- hopefully at least one of those games stay close.
Then, what could be better than Virginia Tech-Rutgers at 3:30? It’s the perfect appetizer for No. 8 Washington-Michigan State kickoff at 5 p.m. (Yes, I’m kidding about Virginia Tech-Rutgers. Please do not spend your weekend watching that.)
It almost feels like Michigan’s season hasn’t started yet with how uncompetitive these early games have been -- as if Saturday is the final game of the preseason. But hey, I guess it’s better than already having a loss on the schedule.