Western Michigan at Michigan
12:00 p.m. ET
This game will be played at the same time as Wisconsin’s matchup with New Mexico, but will probably be much closer. Michigan could still blow out Western Michigan, but there’s more hope for the Broncos against their Big Ten opponent than the Lobos.
Michigan is heavily favored in its home opener. After a tough loss against Notre Dame last week Michigan really needs a break. But Western Michigan is no pushover. The Broncos are coming off a loss in a shootout against Syracuse where they put some good talent on display.
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Western Michigan went into halftime against Syracuse down 34-7 and rallied in the second half to make the game close. It actually out-gained the Orange 621-560 overall in the game. Michigan’s defense will be tougher to penetrate, but Western Michigan has firepower.
This game is obviously on the list, not because of Western Michigan, but because of the Wolverines. Michigan looked plain bad against Notre Dame last week. Shea Patterson was very underwhelming too. The Michigan program isn’t in a great place.
It’s imperative to Michigan’s season-long goals that it comes out and dominates this game in front of its home crowd. Anything less and the Wolverines will be headed towards another week of harsh criticism.
I won’t go so far as to predict an upset, but I think Western Michigan can keep this one closer than expected for a little while longer than expected. Unless Michigan looks like a completely different team this week I don’t think that would surprise anyone.