After a gusty win over Oklahoma on Saturday, Michigan football turns its attention to UTEP for the final non-conference game of the season.
UTEP is 1-1. Oklahoma dominated the Miners in Week 1 in a 51-0 victory. The Miners defeated Texas Southern 51-10 last week.
Quarterback EJ Colson threw four touchdown passes and ran for another. Michigan has already learned the lesson of overlooking an opponent this season, or they should have against Western Michigan, so I would expect the Wolverines at their best, especially with some kinks to work out.
Most of those kinks or remaining issues are on offense. The defense looks as good as advertised. In some ways, it looks better. Oklahoma scored 23 on Michigan last season. Saturday, they scored 10, and if it wasn't for the Jyaire Hill personal foul, maybe they don't even get that many.
The offense has scored 30 points in two games. Michigan has four touchdowns and one field goal. One of those touchdowns was the Hail Mary pass. The other came after Hill's interception, which gave the Wolverines the ball at the six.
That means that Michigan has put together just two sustained touchdown drives all season. Oklahoma's defense is no joke. But the Sooners hung 50 on UTEP in Week 1, so the Wolverines need to light up the scoreboard a little this week. for no other reason than the boost of confidence it will bring.
Michigan vs UTEP odds and prediction
The Wolverines are basically a five-touchdown favorite this week (-34.5). The over/under is 48.5 points, so that's essentially predicting a score of 41-7. That seems pretty reasonable based on what we have seen.
It's hard to see UTEP doing much with the football. Michigan's defense has been dominant. That should continue, but the Miners have allowed just 306 yards per game. They are also surrendering only 3.6 yards per carry on the ground.
Bryce Underwood was much better against Oklahoma. He locked down the QB1 spot thanks to 198 total yards and one interception. The passing game needs to improve, though, starting this week.
Teams are throwing for just 165 yards a game against the Miners, so the offense will need to be sharp, or it will run into problems. Michigan needs to get the running backs going, too.
As for our early prediction, the Wolverines will have a breakout performance on offense. Underwood gained confidence last week. This week, the Wolverines will build on it.
Prediction: Michigan 38, UTEP 7.
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