Previewing Michigan Football’s matchup against Hawaii

Saturday night, Michigan Football is back in action at the Big House to take on another Mountain West team, Hawaii. After dominating Colorado State last weekend, the Wolverines need to keep the strong momentum going against the Rainbow Warriors.

Michigan Football has only played 11-night games in the history of the Big House, the first being in 2011. The Wolverines are 9-2 in these matchups, losing only to Michigan State in 2017 and Wisconsin in 2020.

Sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy is set to start for Michigan Football on Saturday, and likely beyond. Despite only playing 11 snaps against Colorado State, McCarthy completed all four of his attempted passes for 30 yards. Additionally, he ran for 50 yards on three rushing attempts with one of these attempts resulting in a touchdown.

While McCarthy’s performance was extremely impressive, he did not have a single pass attempt over 10 yards against the Rams. It is extremely important that J.J. is able to showcase his arm strength in his start against Hawaii, especially to help his resume for the starting quarterback position.

Junior running back Blake Corum and sophomore running back Donovan Edwards both had very impressive performances in the season opener against Colorado State. Each of the two running backs scored a touchdown, Corum rushing for 76 yards and Edwards rushing for 64 yards.

15 different Michigan football players had at least one reception against the Rams last weekend. This makes it very difficult to gauge which receivers will be the front runners for the Wolverines going into their matchup with the Rainbow Warriors. One thing is for sure, the Wolverines have a plethora of options when it comes to the passing game.

Junior wide receiver Roman Wilson scored the only receiving touchdown for Michigan last weekend, after catching a short pass behind the line of scrimmage from Cade McNamara and running over 60 yards to the end zone. While the Wolverines tend to focus more on the run game, they have plenty of talented receivers and tight ends that need to continue to be utilized.

On the defensive side of the ball, senior defensive back DJ Turner looked incredible against Colorado State with two solo tackles and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Sophomore defensive back Rod Moore had four total tackles and an interception last week.

Linebackers Junior Colson and Michael Barrett are also likely to be impactful players for Michigan football this season, with 10 and six tackles against the Rams respectively. Senior defensive lineman Mazi Smith was an important part of the Wolverines’ defense last season and showed up big against Colorado State with four tackles.

While the loss of players such as Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo in the off-season was thought to possibly cause large problems for Michigan’s defense, the Wolverines looked just as strong, if not stronger against the Rams despite it only being the first game of the season. With the leadership of Jesse Minter, this defensive group looks like it will be a force to be reckoned with.

Getting to Know Hawaii

The Rainbow Warriors have had a rough start to their season under new head coach Timmy Chang. Hawaii Football has played two home games against unranked teams this season and lost both by at least 32 points. Now, as the Rainbow Warriors prepare to take on Michigan Football at the Big House, they are up for a very large challenge.

Hawaii has had quite the quarterback battle of its own to start of the 2022 season. Unfortunately for the Rainbow Warriors, their quarterback battle is a bit uglier as neither quarterback has shown to be a great option.

Sophomore quarterback Brayden Schager threw for 161 yards with 18 completions in Hawaii’s season opener against Vanderbilt. While he completed 22 passes for 230 yards in their second matchup against Western Kentucky, he also threw four interceptions, one being a pick-six.

Schager’s competitor is junior quarterback Joey Yellen who has played for Arizona State and Pittsburgh in previous seasons. Yellen completed ten passes against Vanderbilt for 89 yards, however, lost 15 yards on his two rushing attempts. Yellen’s luck got even worse against Western Kentucky as he only completed four passes for 36 yards, threw an interception, and lost 11 yards on two rushing attempts.

While the Rainbow Warriors are struggling in the quarterback department, they have a few key players that lead to their offensive success. Senior running back Dedrick Parson is in his second season with Hawaii and has already rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns. He also has six receptions for 32 yards but struggled to hold onto the ball against Vanderbilt where he lost two fumbles.

Junior and freshman wide receivers Jonah Panoke and Jalen Walthall are both ranked as Top-15 receivers in the Mountain West Conference. Panoke has 9 receptions for 133 yards in two games this season, already passing the 123 yards he had last season. Walthall on the other hand has eight receptions for 114 yards, which is extremely impressive for a true freshman receiver.

Michigan has been in control of the ongoing series against Hawaii, winning all three of the previous matchups. They won the most recent matchup in 2016 by 60 points. The Wolverines are favored by 51 points on Saturday, which is the largest margin Michigan Football has ever had since the point spread was first created.

With Michigan only having one game so far this season to base their opinions on impactful players, it will be interesting to see which Wolverines show up again against Hawaii and which players take a step back. Additionally, there will likely be new players that emerge and make a name for themselves this week.