Michigan Football: Will SMU offer any resistance to the Wolverines?

Michigan football will host SMU Saturday in its final non-conference game of the regular season. Will the Mustangs offer any kind of resistance?

As Michigan football fans know, not all non-conference games are the same. Some are stiff tests and others, well, they are basically guaranteed wins.

The game against Western Michigan fell into the second category. Obviously, saying a win is a guaranteed is arrogant, but that’s what Michigan football was thinking when it was scheduled and the same applies to SMU.

Not to be disrespectful of the Mustangs, who were 7-5 last season but under the direction of new head coach Sonny Dykes, SMU has gotten outscored by an average of 27 points and has not looked at all like a team that can come into the Big House and play a competitive game against the Wolverines.

To be fair, SMU did build a 9-0 lead last week against 16th-ranked TCU. Yet, the Horned Frogs soon woke up and outscored the Mustangs 42-3 the rest of the way. TCU also racked up 393 yards compared to just 242 for the Mustangs.

That game was at home but against North Texas, on the road, in the first week of the season, SMU was even worse. North Texas jumped out to a 14-0 lead on the Mustangs and blew them out by a score of 46-23.

Michigan Wolverines

SMU gave up 461 passing yards in that loss and managed just 256 yards of total offense. In two games, the Mustangs are averaging 249 yards per game and have one of the worst offenses in the FBS statistically. Currently, they ranked 124th out of 128 teams.

Michigan football isn’t a juggernaut offensively by any means, but UM is averaging 379 yards per game and should be able to take advantage of an SMU defense that ranks outside the top 100 and allows 461 yards per game. It has also given up 11 touchdowns in two games. Michigan football has allowed only three and none in the last six quarters.

SMU does hold up better against the run than the pass, which bodes well for the matchup with Michigan. The Mustangs rank 80th in that category while facing a Michigan offense that is 63rd in the nation in rushing yards with an average of 183 per game.

However, if last week was any indication, Shea Patterson, Nico Collins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and the rest of the passing game are up for the challenge of creating both explosive plays and touchdowns.

Patterson hit Collins for a 44-yard touchdown and also threw touchdown passes to Sean McKeon and Peoples-Jones. Patterson also played a mistake-free game and against the Mustangs 110th-ranked pass defense, he has to be licking his chops.

SMU does have an experienced quarterback and returned its starter from last season, Ben Hicks. But so far, Hicks has struggled, completing 48.4 percent of his passes. He also has two touchdowns and one interception but is averaging just 181 yards per game.

The SMU rushing attack has been abysmal and only three receivers have more than 50 yards receiving in an offense that is supposed to be high octane. Those are all reasons why Michigan football is favored by nearly five touchdowns.  

Of course, SMU could always surprise for a while; they did against TCU and Michigan could certainly overlook the Mustangs and play poorly. However, if the Wolverines show up, this shouldn’t and won’t be much of a game.