The first look at the Kyle Whittingham era comes Saturday night, and Michigan is stepping into it against a Western Michigan team that knows how to make life messy early.
That’s the challenge for the No. 16 Wolverines: the Broncos arrive with real substance.
Broc Lowry is back after being picked as the conference Player of the Year, Jalen Buckley returns alongside him, and Western Michigan’s ground game is still the engine. That’s the part Michigan’s defense has to answer first.
There’s also a wrinkle on the other side of the ball. Western Michigan is not coming in as some soft opener. The Broncos were one of the better teams in the MAC last season, and they were also missing a key piece when star defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary left for a job on Jim Harbaugh’s staff with the Los Angeles Chargers.
For Michigan, this is a debut with new faces in charge and plenty of talent already in place. Jason Beck takes over as offensive coordinator, and the expectation is a faster pace mixed with a physical run game. On defense, Jay Hill is looking to get the group back to its 2023 standard.
The tricky part, as always in Week 1, is that nobody really knows how it all looks once the lights come on. Michigan has reportedly looked strong in fall camp, but that still has to translate to game speed, and the Wolverines are doing it with a brand-new staff. Even so, the feeling here is that the talent gap eventually shows up.
Western Michigan could land the first punch. Several predictions pointed to the Broncos scoring early and keeping the game tight for a while, especially if Michigan needs time to settle in. But the longer this one goes, the more the Wolverines’ defense is expected to clamp down and force WMU out of the run game.
Offensively, Michigan should show enough to make the debut feel encouraging. Bryce Underwood is expected to take a step forward, and the run game could be the real headline. Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter were both singled out as the stars on that side of the ball, with the two projected to combine for more than 200 rushing yards.
One prediction had Michigan pulling away in the second half and winning 34-10. Another called it a comfortable victory but not a clean one right away, noting that the Wolverines may need a second to separate before Underwood settles in and the defensive front starts taking over.
There’s also the bigger picture hanging over the night. Michigan is likely to keep things fairly simple with Oklahoma waiting next week in Ann Arbor, which makes this feel less like a full reveal and more like a controlled first step.
Western Michigan should make the Wolverines work early. Michigan should have too much in the end. The expectation is a win, with some room left for improvement before the Sooners come to town.
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Bryce Underwood Faces Michigan Test That Will Define The Hype
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Underwoods development matters because Michigan is not just waiting on talent anymore, it is waiting on proof that the hype can survive game planning, pressure and the regular rhythm of a season. He spent part of the offseason training with quarterback Jordan Palmer and Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow, and now the real test is whether those lessons show up when the Wolverines start asking him to run the offense instead of simply flash what he can do. [Read more 🡒]