GBMWolverine
Fansided

Michigan Football: 5 questions for Wolverines against Rutgers

By Cameron Stokes

Oct 15, 2022; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline in the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2022; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline in the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next

Last week, Michigan football dominated their rival Michigan State in a game that wasn’t even as close as the 22-point victory indicated.

Michigan struggled in the red zone and settled for five field goals overall, otherwise, the final score would’ve been absolutely brutal.

There was also a despicable postgame jumping, which resulted in two Michigan players with injuries varying from a concussion to a possible broken nose.

Although the fight in the tunnel postgame was barbaric behavior from Michigan State, and the Spartans program should be ashamed of themselves, Michigan football does have bigger things they still want to chase, so they have to move on, no matter how hard that might be.

With all that being said, here are five questions Michigan needs to answer against Rutgers:

What will Michigan’s body language be on the sidelines?

We don’t usually have to talk about motivation for a game, but this week has unique circumstances that require Michigan’s players to try to forget something traumatic that happened the week before.

That is definitely hard to do. The comparison to that (although not directly comparable) is when Mike Hart collapsed on the field against Indiana and Michigan had to rally and move forward and win the game without their running backs coach.

One of the main differences between these two things is one thing happened during live-game action and the other happened after the game.

Michigan’s players and coaches have had time to process things all week, and it will be very important for the players to stay at least 70-80% focused on Saturday.

How will Michigan football look when the game starts on offense and defense? Will the players seem motivated? Will the offense look sluggish and lackadaisical? Will the defense look a step slow?

This game will be at night, in front of (possibly) a ton of people (both Michigan and Rutgers fans), and the last time Michigan football played a night game against Rutgers, it took triple OT to win 48-42 in 2020.

So, Michigan still has to get up for this game, and hopefully, they start out fast and keep up the pace.

Home/Michigan Football