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Michigan Football: Updated Expectations After Win Over Wisconsin

By Christopher Gibbons

Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Wilton Speight (3) drops back to pass in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 14-7. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Wilton Speight (3) drops back to pass in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 14-7. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michigan football improved to 5-0 after a big 14-7 win over Wisconsin. Now, the Wolverines’  lofty expectations have risen. Here’s what we expect after Week 5.

When this season’s schedule was announced, many expected Michigan football to start the season 7-0. The Wolverines looked to play no ranked teams until they saw Michigan State on Oct. 29. Five weeks into the season, that’s all changed.

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For one, some of Michigan’s opponents have been better than we initially thought. Colorado wasn’t expected to be too impressive, but its 45-28 loss to Michigan remains its only defeat, and the Buffs find themselves ranked at No. 21 going into Week 6 after double-digit victories over Oregon and Oregon State.

Then of course, nobody expected Wisconsin to be as good as it has been. The Badgers boast one of the best defenses in the country, even with some key injuries holding them back a bit. The impressive Badgers gave the Wolverines a ridiculous amount of problems and made them work for this week’s 14-7 win.

But looking forward, Michigan might not be looking at just a 7-0 start to the season. It might be looking at an 11-0 start, and that’s not hyperbole.

Michigan is currently ranked No. 4 by the AP Poll. It does not have a single ranked game until it plays No. 2 Ohio State in “The Game” at Ohio Stadium on Nov. 26. No, not even Michigan State looks to be a match-up between ranked opponents, as the Spartans go unranked for the first time since 2013 after losing to Indiana in overtime.

Of course, that may change in the next few weeks, and other Big Ten teams may raise their stocks, but Michigan’s looking at a very easy schedule until it visits Columbus in November.

Next up for the Wolverines is Rutgers, who got embarrassed even by its own low standards in a 58-0 demolition from Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights’ only two wins are against Howard and New Mexico. This is not a good football team, and I’d be shocked if it wins even one game in the Big Ten this year.

Then Michigan has the 1-3 Illinois Fighting Illini, who lost to now-No. 12 Nebraska this past week. The Illini were competitive for a while, but the Cornhuskers pulled away late. The Illini might be able to get a little bit of momentum if they beat the likes of Purdue and Rutgers in the next two weeks, but that’s not very impressive. Plus, Michigan will be coming off a bye week and ready to play.

Then comes Michigan State. This was supposed to be Michigan’s first real test of how good it really is, but unless the Spartans get it together soon, it could be ugly. Michigan State only mustered up 21 points against Indiana’s defense. Michigan State’s one marquee win so far is against Notre Dame, a team that fired its defensive coordinator four weeks into the season.

Maryland will be an interesting game, if not only to see how its new head coach and former Michigan defensive coordinator, D.J. Durkin, will perform against the Wolverines, but it is largely untested. The Terrapins are 4-0, with wins over Howard, FIU, UCF and Purdue. We likely won’t know much about them until they play Penn State, Minnesota and Michigan State in the next few weeks.

Going into the season, it looked like Iowa might be one of Michigan’s biggest games, but the Hawkeyes haven’t played well so far. They’ve lost to a mediocre-looking Northwestern team and and FCS team (North Dakota State) at home so far. Iowa needs to bounce back in a big way if it wants to be competitive with a team like Michigan.

Indiana is all about chaos and may be Michigan’s hardest test before Ohio State. The Hoosiers still don’t have a good defense, but Kevin Wilson’s offenses are always capable of racking up points. This was a big trap game for the Wolverines last season, and it could very well be the same way this year. We’ll see how Indiana follows up the Michigan State win with upcoming games at Ohio State and Nebraska.

Then there’s Ohio State. The two teams may very well both be 11-0 by the time they meet up this November. Many thought Ohio State might take a step back this season, but it looks as good as ever. The Buckeyes are 4-0 so far, with their “worst” performance being a 21-point win at No. 20 Oklahoma. The Buckeyes are very good, and this looks to be a brutal game. Whichever team wins here will more than likely go on to win the Big Ten Championship a week later.

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Michigan’s shown some flaws the past few weeks, but even considering them, I’d still pick the Wolverines to win out until Ohio State, unless Michigan State and Iowa get themselves back together. This team’s high expectations have only gotten higher as the season’s hit the conference portion.

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