Michigan Football: Fair Warning, Don't Stress Non-Blowout Wins

The expectations are sky high for Michigan football this season, but do yourself a favor and don’t get worked up over wins by less than 30 points.

I think there’s a lot of entertainment to be consumed when you read through what writers and fans have to say about how Michigan football should perform this season.

“It’s a national title or bust!”

“Michigan’s the best in the Big Ten and they’re gonna prove it!”

“Might be boring to watch Michigan go 15-0!”

I don’t think these are actual quotes; I’m just generalizing. Come to think of it, though, I bet we all know someone who’s saying very similar things about the 2016 season.

This is less of a prediction and more of a hypothetical: Let’s pretend Michigan only beats Hawaii by about 15 points, and then Central Florida by about 12. Ann Arbor is going to be a mess. People will look back at the things said this offseason and wonder how it could’ve gotten out of hand so fast.

But if you, as a rational human being, keep a level head and understand that the season takes up months—and not a couple weeks—then you should be able to ward off the hysteria and enjoy football.

There are a few practical reasons Michigan might not beat up on its first opponents the way we think should happen.

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First, who’s to say the Wolverines’ offense is going to be anything above average that early? It certainly wasn’t the case last season, and I don’t see any significant enough improvements to say for certain that the hurdle has been cleared.

Low-scoring affairs might be a thing this season. (To be fair, we said the same thing about last season’s games against Northwestern and BYU, and you saw how that turned out.)

Second, this still isn’t a team that’s going to put away every single inferior foe it faces. That’s still a ways off, no matter what you want to believe. The reality of the situation is Michigan, though good, isn’t immune to bumps and bruises.

If a team like Alabama or Ohio State were to slip up against Hawaii or UCF and win a tight one, people are going to worry, and they would probably have a right to. The same thing would happen with Michigan, but I don’t know that it would necessarily be appropriate.

On the flip end, there will be an enormous overreaction if Michigan stomps on Hawaii and UCF. (For the record, I’m not using Hawaii and UCF specifically. They represent all opponents who are theoretically a lot worse than Michigan.) People will dub the Wolverines as being the team everyone thought they would be—and there wouldn’t be very much reputable evidence to back that up.

Overreactions are a part of fandom, and it’s going to hit Michigan especially hard since it’s been living in the dumps for so long.

Next: Top 10 running backs in Michigan history

If you can stand your ground and resist the temptation to sob at a 15-point win—or crown them champions of life everlasting after a 50-point win—you’ll be perfectly fine. And you’ll be better suited for a season that will be full of ups, sprinkled with a few downs.

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Michigan Football: Fair Warning, Don’t Stress Non-Blowout Wins

By Tyler Fenwick | Jun 18, 2016

The expectations are sky high for Michigan football this season, but do yourself a favor and don’t get worked up over wins by less than 30 points.

More from GBMWolverine