ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan fans, blessed with a three-year run of bliss, haven’t had many occasions to seriously doubt their team.
It was taken for granted that Michigan would convert on third-and-short, get the big stop, come up with the clutch drive. The Wolverines did those things again and again, to the point that it almost felt automatic.
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Saturday’s season opener against Fresno State, the first game of the post-Jim Harbaugh era, was a reminder that success is never a certainty. Michigan won 30-10, but it wasn’t the kind of dominant performance that will inspire confidence ahead of next week’s showdown against No. 4 Texas.
“It’s football,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “It’s not always going to be perfect.”
Here are four takeaways.
QB play needs to improve, and fast
Think back to January, when the confetti was falling at NRG Stadium in Houston. If someone had said then that Davis Warren would take Michigan’s next snap at quarterback, the reaction would have been … what? Surprise? Disbelief? Concern? Panic?
Now that QB-hungry programs can find answers in the transfer portal, it’s rare for a program of Michigan’s caliber to enter a season with so little experience at quarterback. Warren has been a trusty backup in his career but was never regarded as the heir apparent to J.J. McCarthy. Alex Orji was considered a work in progress who needed to develop as a passer. Michigan gambled that its internal options were better than the options in the transfer portal, and it remains to be seen whether that was the right call.
Warren was Michigan’s primary quarterback Saturday night. He completed 15 of 25 passes for just 115 yards with an interception and a touchdown. Orji came on the field for a snap or two at a time and ran for 32 yards on five carries, with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Edwards on Michigan’s opening drive. Regardless of who was taking the snaps, Michigan had little success creating explosive plays through the air.
“I definitely need to clean things up on third downs,” Warren said. “We left some meat on the bone on those plays. We’re going to go back to the drawing board and find some ways to get better.”
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To Warren’s credit, he led a touchdown drive when Michigan needed one. After Fresno State scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to pull within 16-10, Michigan started feeding Kalel Mullings and found the end zone on an 18-yard pass from Davis to Colston Loveland. That’s the kind of balance Michigan will need if this offense is going to be successful.
Based on what we saw Saturday, Orji is a ways away from being an every-down quarterback. That means Michigan’s offense may go as far as Warren can take it.
Johnson’s no-doubt INT seals it
Michigan defenders appeared to come down with two game-sealing interceptions in the fourth quarter, only to have both overturned. Officials overturned a Quinten Johnson interception on review, and a Makari Paige interception was nullified by a roughing the passer penalty.
Then with Fresno State driving, Will Johnson stepped in front of a Mikey Keene pass and sprinted 86 yards to the end zone. Johnson’s perfectly timed pick six made up for some sloppy moments from Michigan’s defense and put an exclamation point on the victory.
Though the defense was solid most of the night, the Wolverines had a few lapses, including a cover-zero blitz that didn’t hit home, resulting in a fourth-quarter touchdown that pulled Fresno State within six. Michigan committed multiple penalties that prolonged the Fresno State drive prior to Johnson’s interception, but that became an afterthought once Johnson flashed across the screen and grabbed the game-sealing interception.
Run game finally meshes with Mullings
Edwards entered the season with huge expectations after running for two long touchdowns in the national championship game. His first game of 2024 looked uncomfortably similar to the early part of 2023 season, when he struggled out of the gate.
Edwards finished with 27 yards on 11 carries, an average of 2.5 yards per attempt. Michigan’s offensive line, which features five new starters, didn’t help him by creating many creases. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Michigan got its run game going by feeding the ball to Mullings, who finished with 92 yards on 15 carries.
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“We think we have two guys that are starters,” Moore said. “We’ll play both of them, let them keep playing. You’re going to need all of them.”
Mullings’ powerful north-south running made him Michigan’s most effective back Saturday night. No matter who’s carrying the ball, Michigan will need better play from its offensive line, which will have quite a bit to clean up before next week.
Colston Loveland: Still good
Michigan doesn’t have a lot it can count on offensively, but Loveland is still a sure thing. The All-America tight end caught eight passes for 87 yards, more than the rest of the team combined, and found the end zone in the fourth quarter when Michigan needed to score.
Michigan came into the game with questions at wide receiver, and not a lot of those questions were answered. But Michigan’s quarterbacks have a security blanket in Loveland, who might be the best pass-catching tight end in college football. The Wolverines may need him to carry the passing game while the quarterbacks and wide receivers settle in.
“If they’re going to leave 18 open, we’re going to throw him the ball,” Warren said. “It’s pretty simple.”
(Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA Today)
Austin Meek covers Michigan football and basketball for The Athletic. He previously covered college sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal and served as sports columnist at The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon. Follow Austin on Twitter @byaustinmeek
