College football never seems to disappoint. The first Thursday of Week 1 didn't either.
Whether it was UMass knocking off Rutgers or Colorado surviving against Georgia Tech, there were some crazy moments on Thursday.
Michigan football makes its regular-season debut on Saturday night against Western Michigan, a 10-win team from the MAC last season, which returns the MAC Offensive Player of the Year in Broc Lowry.
After what UMass did to Rutgers, Michigan should be wary of Saturday's opponent. You can never take anyone lightly.
That's one lesson that Michigan football players should learn from Thursday. Something else that we learned was that the Wolverines made the right call in moving on from Justice Haynes.
Michigan fans won't regret moving on from Justice Haynes
The former Alabama running back, a five-star recruit out of high school, had a strong season with the Wolverines in 2025. Haynes was limited to seven games, but carried the ball 121 times for 857 yards. That works out ot an average of 7.1 yards per carry, leading the Big Ten.
Haynes was electrifying with Michigan. However, he decided to enter the transfer portal this offseason. Some questioned it at the time.
It made sense, though. Jordan Marshall had four 100-yard games during Big Ten play. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native averaged 6.9 yards per attempt in the Big Ten.
If Marshall can run like that this season, for the whole season, he will be a Heisman contender. Think of Blake Corum back in 2022. If he didn't get injured against Illinois, he might have won the Heisman.
The decision to allow Haynes to walk for more money, instead of keeping Marshall and five-star Savion Hiter, looks pretty smart after Week 1. Haynes, playing for Georgia Tech, had 19 carries for 64 yards with a long run of 11. That's an average of 3.4 yards per carry. This also came against Colorado, a team that has been poor on defense, allowing 5.2 per rush in 2025.
Haynes might still be finding his form. It was just one game, but he looked pretty pedestrian, to the point that Michigan fans, even those that wanted the Wolverines to bring him back, are probably happy with the decision made.
Had Kyle Whittingham decided to keep Haynes and Marshall, it could have cost U-M Savion Hiter. That would have been a disaster. Keeping the five-star freshman and Marshall, the best running back in the Big Ten down the stretch last season, was the right call.
Thursday reaffirmed that.
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