If there is one thing that's true about college football, it's easy to overrreact.
That's true about the NFL, too. When it's a week-to-week sport, it's prone to that sort of thinking, to reacting too much to what we are seeing.
It's almost universally true that no team is ever as good or as bad as it looks. You're never as bad as your worst game or as good as your best.
That's something Michigan football fans are certainly hoping is true because few teams looked worse in their college football debut, at least compared to preseason expectations, than the Wolverines.
Michigan started the season ranked 16th in the AP Poll. After a 9-4 season with a true freshman, Bryce Underwood, starting at quarterback, the idea was that the Wolverines would take a step forward this season, especially under the direction of Kyle Whittingham.
Yet, Whittingham's first game turned into a disaster. Michigan football won, in a controversial fashion, thanks to a Hail Mary pass from Bryce Underwood to J.J. Buchanan as time expired.
Michigan has been a hot topic all week because of this. Many have wanted to say the Wolverines lost last week, even though they won. So it wasn't a surprise that U-M was a topic on ESPN's College GameDay.
While Michigan fans are probably over hearing from national pundits, Saban did offer some words of encouragement for Wolverines fans.
"We've got people all over your alma mater (Desmond Howard) Michigan about how they played last week, it was one game," Saban said. "I mean, everybody has the opportunity to improve. It's a long season. One thing I hated and despised about the media is how they proclaim your team early."
Nick Saban gives Michigan football fans a reason for hope
Howard said that the reaction to Michigan's 13-12 win was the biggest overreaction. It was the first game in a new system for the offense and the defense. People tend to forget that Underwood is a sophomore who is learning his second offensive system in two years.
Underwood isn't mastering a system and getting comfortable in it. He's trying to learn that and improve his quarterback mechanics at the same time. There will be good and bad, like last week.
Hopefully, there will be more good and less bad this week. It's hard to see how it could be worse, which is something we can say about the entire Michigan football team.
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