With a cataclysmic 2020 season in the rearview mirror, a laser-focused attitude has Michigan Football primed to make 2021 a reversal of fortunes to reemerge to national prominence.
The initial preseason poll is out and Michigan football is not included in the top 25. That should be a surprise to nobody after the taste that they left in everyone’s mouth last fall.
Now the expectations for a new year are not as hyped as they normally would be, but nonetheless, it’s still the calm before the storm of another anticipated Michigan football season.
Not seeing that much attention in the preseason is unseen territory for the Wolverines. They’re used to being ranked in August before opening up the autumn schedule.
More questions than answers for Michigan football
This year there are far more questions than there are answers and that leaves the maize and blue on the outside looking in when it comes to their yearly expectations meter.
On offense, Cade McNamara is the concrete starter at the most important position on the field. He is flanked with a comforting number of returning starters to help rev the engines of the Josh Gattis attack. At this point of camp, they should be clearly ahead of the defense and that presumably will show on Saturday afternoon of September 4th.
Defensively, reviews are coming in from Mike MacDonald’s first-time stint as a defensive coordinator in his career. The defensive line is getting talked up quite a bit by Harbaugh and others, especially Mazi Smith. In the secondary Gemon Green seems to have locked down one corner spot, while Daxton Hill will be asked to be a jack of all trades for the unit.
As far as the schedule goes, the Washington affair will be the test that everyone has their eyes on. No disrespect towards Western Michigan, but the outcome of the Washington contest will reveal how good or bad Michigan will be in 2021. The rest of the way won’t really matter unless Michigan is 4-0 going into Camp Randall to dive headfirst into the heart of the Big Ten lineup.
Having to temper expectations for a football fan is never an easy thing to do, but this feels like the time to do it. Michigan could have a losing record again and would be forced to start over.
Being prepared for it before it happens is the best way to handle things, but that is about as hard to do as the Wolverines beating Ohio State on the gridiron these days.
Can Michigan football get going already, political Twitter is getting old.. 😂
— Sharp (@sharpcutco) July 31, 2021
It’s going to take a lot of time and work, but Michigan football can get back to winning championships again.
It might not happen as fast as we all hope for, but if the football gods are on Michigan’s side this time around, then the sooner the better for the resurrection of a sleeping giant.