ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines knocked off Cincinnati in their home opener to improve to 2-0 on the season, but it wasn't as dominant a performance as fans expected.
Jim Harbaugh's team was a five-touchdown favorite heading into the game, but Michigan found itself up only three points late in the third quarter. The final scoreboard said 36-14, but it was closer than that for most of the game.
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Even though there are many things Michigan has done well and others it definitely needs to work on, not everything from Saturday's game will stay true throughout the rest of the season.
Here are five overreactions that might not prove true throughout the rest of the fall.
DPJ can't return punts
One of the main reasons Cincinnati was able to keep the game close is because the Wolverines' special teams gave the Bearcats free points. It felt like a game that could have ended in a shutout, unless something weird happened.
Well, something weird happened. With Michigan up 14-0 in the first quarter and set to get the ball back once again, a short punt from James Smith hit Michigan's Benjamin St-Juste in the back of the leg and dribbled into the arms of a Bearcats player.
Nine plays later, Cincinnati was on the board with a touchdown.
It wasn't the only adventure during punt returns. Donovan Peoples-Jones didn't come up and catch a punt near midfield later in the first half, instead allowing it to bounce farther downfield. Not only did it cost Michigan at least 10 yards, he also decided to field it off the bounce, risking another special-teams turnover.
After that play, Harbaugh elected to use veteran receiver Grant Perry in the punt return role.
Peoples-Jones was shaky in the opener against Florida, showing indecision and hesitating to aggressively come in to fair catch short kicks. Harbaugh grew tired of the adventures after a game and a half, but that doesn't mean Peoples-Jones can't win the job back.
Peoples-Jones is the most talented athlete on the offense -- he wasn't the No. 1 receiver commit in the country last year for nothing -- and his ceiling as a punt returner is high.
He's only gotten one touch on offense -- on a reverse handoff -- but once he gets more involved in the offense and has more plays under his belt, Peoples-Jones will settle down and handle the moment better.
Perry is the safer option for now, but Peoples-Jones is the most explosive player, and punt returners with home-run potential are valuable.
A change is needed at QB
There's no sugarcoating it: Wilton Speight hasn't been very good through two games this season. The player who effectively managed the offense and converted easy throws for the first nine games last season hasn't showed up yet. Instead, Speight looks like the quarterback who struggled mightily in Michigan's three losses.
Speight is consistently sailing passes over his receivers. In the opener, he missed high on consecutive throws that resulted in Florida interceptions returned for touchdowns. When quarterbacks miss high, it's a major risk to throw over the middle, as safeties and the meat of the defense are in waiting.
One example of Speight's struggles in Saturday's win over Cincinnati came on second and goal, after a misplayed snap gave Michigan the ball on the 10-yard line. Speight overthrew his target to the left on second down and overthrew his receiver to the right on third down. Both passes sailed out of bounds, and Speight didn't give his receivers a chance to make a play.
He also missed a pair of easy passes to Peoples-Jones in the second half. The freshman got open on the right side of the field in both instances, once on a short route and the second time farther downfield. Both times, Speight missed high and Peoples-Jones had to play defense, swatting the passes down to keep them from being picked off.
If Speight can't make those throws, he simply can't take Michigan to where it wants to go, no matter how strong the defense might be.
Still, Harbaugh wouldn't have played Speight if he wasn't the best quarterback, so calls for backup John O'Korn or even redshirt freshman Brandon Peters are misjudged. Speight is clearly the best quarterback on Michigan's roster, and he has shown flashes of brilliance.
His 43-yard touchdown pass to Kekoa Crawford to polish off an 80-yard touchdown drive at the start of the game was a thing of beauty. He connected with Nick Eubanks on a similar pass against Florida. His proficiency in the short-passing game allowed him to finish Saturday's game with a respectable line: 17 of 29 passing for 221 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Speight hasn't been good, but he's still Michigan's best chance to get the offense turned around.
Ty Isaac is Michigan's best running back
Michigan's offense hasn't really clicked through two games, but Ty Isaac has been one of the major bright spots on the entire roster.
Isaac has put together back-to-back 100-yard efforts to start the season, rushing 31 times for 247 yards overall. He's been huge on third down and carried the offense out of three separate sticky situations against the Gators.
There's absolutely no debate that Isaac has been Michigan's best running back so far, but that doesn't mean it'll be true when the Big Ten season rolls around.
Chris Evans was expected to be Michigan's top weapon on offense, but he's been shut down by Florida and Cincinnati, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry on 27 attempts.
Florida wasn't a good matchup for Evans with its vaunted defensive line and elite speed at the second level. Evans averaged 7 yards per carry last season because he exposed slower defenses with his speed, and he'll have a chance to do that throughout the rest of the campaign.
Isaac has been quietly solid for Michigan since transferring from USC, especially toward the end of 2016, when he became a valuable asset in the screen and pass blocking game, as well as on the ground. But he's never had a 100-yard game until this year.
It's possible that Isaac has improved dramatically and is finally living up to his five-star potential, but that would be a drastic change for the fifth-year senior.
Evans is off to a rough start, but he was very good as Michigan's backup in 2016, and despite his early struggles, he's still the most talented player of the bunch.
Michigan's defense is better than last season
The reason Michigan is ranked in the top 10 of both major polls is because of the dominant performance from its defense, which allowed 200 yards against Cincinnati after surrendering 192 yards to Florida.
Up front, the defense is just as strong. Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich are nightmare matchups on the edges, and the rotation at defensive tackle is talented and deep.
Even the linebackers -- which replaced Jabrill Peppers and Ben Gedeon with Khaleke Hudson and Devin Bush -- haven't missed a beat. Bush is already the leader of the defense despite being a true sophomore, and Hudson is his partner in crime from the viper position.
But the reason the defense might not be better than the unit that rivaled Alabama in 2016 is the secondary. So far, the secondary has been excellent, forcing five turnovers and returning two interceptions for touchdowns against Cincinnati.
It might be a different story if Cincinnati quarterback Hayden Moore hadn't missed two wide-open touchdown passes during Saturday's game, one of which would have given the Bearcats a lead. In both instances, Cincinnati receivers got completely behind the Michigan secondary and were streaking unguarded to the end zone. But Moore overthrew both receivers, so the blown coverage didn't show up in the box score.
Tyree Kinnel is a budding star, and has been improving since he got to Ann Arbor. He had a pick-six and a sack in the game, and led the team with nine tackles.
But Lavert Hill, David Long and Brandon Watson will have growing pains as they look to become the trio that Jourdan Lewis, Channing Stribling and Jeremy Clark were a year ago. Are they as talented? Maybe, but they're going to make mistakes as they continue to develop as cornerbacks.
Tight ends aren't as involved
Michigan fans knew this season would be a retooling effort at the tight end position after Jake Butt graduated and moved on to the NFL.
Butt was one of the best receiving tight ends in Michigan football history, catching 138 passes for 1,646 yards and 11 touchdowns during his career.
No single player has taken over Butt's role so far, but that's an impossible task for inexperienced players. Instead, the tight ends have tried to fill the gap by committee.
Sean McKeon leads all Michigan tight ends with five catches in two games, but as a whole, Speight has utilized his tight ends often. In the opener against Florida, Michigan's tight ends combined for five catches and 86 receiving yards. They're not Butt; however, that's comparable to his production in a single game.
Saturday was a similar story. No Michigan tight end had more than 41 yards, but McKeon, Tyrone Wheatley and Zach Gentry combined for five catches and 61 yards. Gentry was especially critical, moving the chains on a huge 36-yard reception in a tight game.
Wheatley and Ian Bunting were expected to be two of the major contributors before the season started, and they've combined for just one catch. As a result, the position might seem like it's taken a major step down. But that's not the case.
The tight end position is as deep as it's been under Harbaugh, with four legitimate options between McKeon, Wheatley, Eubanks and Gentry. Speight has struggled with passes downfield, so the tight ends are even more important in leading the charge for the short-passing game.
Harbaugh is known as a tight end specialist, and the early development of these young players only adds to that reputation.