Michigan Football: 5 things we learned in domination of Northern Illinois

A team built to contend

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and start crowning this team after three wins, not one of which was over a team still ranked in the top 25.

Rutgers isn’t a pushover and the Scarlet Knights will be just the start of a tough schedule that includes road games at Wisconsin and Nebraska, as well as Northwestern at home in addition to the usual gauntlet, which also features road trips to Michigan State and Penn State.

And of course, Ohio State comes calling at the end of the year, as well as Indiana, who is 1-2 but is still a talented football team.

That being said, the ESPN FPI really likes the Wolverines and so does Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock who said this following Saturday’s loss:

"“What I see, they built their team to beat Ohio State,” Hammock said. “You’re not going to out-athlete Ohio State and so they said, ‘We’re going to get dirty.’ And you know what? Credit to them because they stay committed to that. They have a good team.”"

Michigan should build its team with an eye on beating Ohio State. At the same time, if you can run the football in a dominant fashion, play stingy defense and not turn the football over, you will have a shot against just about anyone.

It sounds simple but it’s been ruthlessly effective through three games and if Michigan football can keep it up in Big Ten play, there’s no reason the Wolverines can’t be a serious contender for the Big Ten title in 2021.