Michigan football: Week 1 gameday recipe and favorite prop bet

We have finally made it to week one of the college football season! At times throughout the summer, it felt like this day would never come but the time is now. Time to watch the Wolverines touch the banner, take the field in the Big House, and listen to Hail To the Victors!

If any of you are like me, a big part of my game day experience includes food and gambling. Starting this week, I am going to bring you a weekly Michigan football game day recipe and a game day prop bet. Let's get into it for week one vs Fresno State.

Recipe: Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

We are coming in hot for week one with one of my personal favorites, smoked burnt ends.

What you will need:

Pork belly. I like to get mine from Costco but you can also get one from any local butcher shop.

Seasoning. I like to use a Kinder's barcecue seasoning.

Butter. Butter makes everything better and you will use this in the final step of the cooking process.

Oil. Avocado oil or canola oil works. I have even used a light drizzle of olive oil in the past.

Cooking Process: Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Make sure you get the smoker heated up nicely before you put the meat inside. In other words, don't put the meat in the second the smoker reaches 250. While the smoker is heating up, you are going to cut your pork belly into square pieces. Make them as big or as small as you would like. I typically like them medium sized. Once you have cut them up, season each piece liberally. The more seasoning the better! Next, put them in the smoker for about four hours or until you get an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Once they have reached 165 degrees, remove them from the smoker and place them in a pan (I like to use a cast iron skillett). Cut up a stick of butter and place the pieces in between the pieces all throughout the pan. I like to also add a little bit of brown sugar and a light brushing of barbecue sauce to mine. Cover your pan (butcher paper or tin foil works) and place it back into the smoker and smoke them for another two hours or until you get an internal temperature of about 200 degrees. Remove them from the smoker and let them rest from twenty minutes before eating. Good sides include coleslaw, baked beans, fries and mac n cheese. Lastly, enjoy your burnt ends while watching the reigning national champs play football.

Michigan football Prop bet: Donovan Edwards over 80 rushing yards at -125

Fresno State returns two defensive line starters from last year's team. They also welcome transfer and former 5 star Korey Foreman to the unit. He has been listed as a potential starter. At linebacker, they lose their best player, Levelle Bailey, to the NFL.

Overall, the front seven has some returning talent but has also lost some. Michigan football on the other hand welcomes a lot of new faces, including four new starting offensive linemen. Myles Hinton is the only returning player with starts on the offensive line. However, I do not think there is going to be the fall off in production that a lot of people are expecting. Now, is this team as talented in the run game as they were last year? No. Four new offensive linemen are looking to prove a point and a running back in Donovan Edwards has shown us his talent in big moments but is hungry to earn the respect as an every-down back.

Sherrone Moore does not strike me as somebody who is going to deviate from his strength of running the ball. I believe Michigan football is going to try to impose their will on Fresno State from the first snap to the last. That philosophy paired with an explosive run play or two from Edwards is why I really like the over on Dono's rush total.