Michigan Football: Important takeaways from win over Cincinnati

Michigan football didn’t look dominant in its win over Cincinnati, but there were still some positives. Here are the important takeaways from the Wolverines win.

When I was watching Michigan football play Cincinnati, the announcing crew made a good point. In this new world of the College Football Playoff, not all wins are created equal.

At the end of the day, Michigan football did enough to register a win that will look as impressive as it needs to, but they were lucky. A closer score and a closer game against a team that might not wind up winning many games, wouldn’t look good on the resume. As is, 36-14 doesn’t sound bad.

Yet, there were definitely some areas of concern. But by the way some people are talking, you would think the Wolverines played terrible.

Sometimes, our expectations get a little out of whack. Did I expect Michigan to dispatch of the Bearcats a little easier? Sure. But things don’t always work that way.

The Wolverines also made plenty of mistakes that helped keep things close. Wilton Speight could have played better, but the offense still racked up 414 yards, while the defense allowed just 200. It also scored two defensive touchdowns.

Certainly, the last two touchdowns helped pad the score a little bit, but a scare isn’t always a bad thing. Jim Harbaugh can fix those types of things and UM has Air Force coming in next week, so it’s no time to panic.

Even so, Michigan football was better than people thought against Cincinnati and here are three important takeaways from the Wolverines win.