It is less than a month from the opening of college football and just over a month before the Michigan Wolverines get back on the football field. The Wolverines come into the season as the defending National Champion, but are predicted to finish fourth in the Big Ten this year behind Oregon, Penn State, and hated rival Ohio State. They are once again an underdog to the Buckeyes, but it has been that way the last three years also, and yet, the Wolverines have come out on top in each of those games.
The Wolverines will open their season on August 31st against Fresno State. Before we enter the last month of preparations to see Michigan back on the field against the Bulldogs we take a look at the best case scenario for the Wolverines this season.
Best Case Scenario for the Wolverines
The Sherrone Moore opens up in style as the Wolverines jump out on the Bulldogs early and never look back. Donovan Edwards looks like he did in the National Championship game and rushes for over 150 yards and two touchdowns. The defense shows it hasn’t lost a step and shuts out Fresno State into the fourth quarter and they come away with a 45-7 win to start the season 1-0.
The impressive win over the Bulldogs sets up a huge showdown with Texas in Week 2. ESPN Gameday comes to town, but they still pick against the Wolverines and say that Quinn Ewers will rip up the defense. The Wolverines score early and never trail. Will Johnson picks off Ewers twice and returns one for a touchdown. The Longhorns do keep it close, but Michigan comes away with a 31-21 win as Edwards breaks one late in the fourth to seal the victory.
A pesky Arkansas State team comes to town for their third game and scores on their opening possession on a trick play. It wakes the Wolverines up and they dominate from there. They score the next 38 points en route to an easy win to move to 3-0 on the season. The starters don’t play in the fourth quarter as they get ready for their Big Ten opener with USC the next week.
The Trojans come to town 1-1 on the season and fresh off a bye week. They have lost to LSU in their first game, but beat Utah State for their first win of the year. The Wolverines are rude hosts as they introduce the Trojans to the Big Ten conference with an emphatic 35-10 win. The defense continues to shine as Mason Graham picks up three sacks and Johnson gets another interception to thwart any thought of a comeback.
The Little Brown Jug is up for grabs in their fifth game as Minnesota comes to the Big House. The Wolverines get off to a slow start as they get caught looking ahead to their first road game at Washington next week. They trail after the first quarter 10-3 and are tied at 17 at halftime. The second half is a different story as the Wolverines outscore the Golden Gophers 27-0 to take home a 44-17 win and they move to 5-0 on the season and are ranked No. 3 behind Georgia and Ohio State.
Michigan heads out west the next week for a National Championship rematch and they do much of the same to the Huskies. They quiet the crowd down early with two quick touchdowns as Edwards continues to show how Washington can’t stop the run. Edwards breaks 200 yards on the ground and scores three times in their 42-10 win.
The Wolverines hit the road for a second straight game two weeks later when they take on Illinois on October 19th. The last time the two teams met the Wolverines needed a fourth-quarter comeback to stay undefeated. They won’t need it this time, but it is a low-scoring game as the Wolverines escape with a 20-10 win.
They return home the next week to take on rival Michigan State. Last year the Wolverines handed the Spartans their largest home loss ever beating them 49-0. The Spartans come in looking for revenge, but it is more of the same as Michigan dominates them in a big 38-7 win.
The Wolverines will then welcome a one-loss Oregon team to town. The Ducks come in with just a single setback to Ohio State and are looking to stay in the race for the Big Ten title. The Ducks are loaded with Dillon Gabriel at quarterback and he gives Michigan first to start the game. The Ducks lead by 10 after the first quarter and for the first time all year the Wolverines trail at halftime 20-14. The Wolverines get a field goal in the third quarter and go into the final Fram down by three. Edwards is finally able to break free in their first possession of the fourth and runs it in from 47 yards out to give the Wolverines their first lead of the game. The Ducks answers with a touchdown, but Alex Orji leads a game-winning drive late and hits Semaj Morgan for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 20 seconds left to give the Wolverines the 31-27 win.
The next two weeks the Wolverines have little trouble beating Indiana on the road and Northwestern at home to set up another undefeated matchup with the Buckeyes two days after Thanksgiving.
Georgia has lost to drop out of the top spot and the Buckeyes are ranked No. 1 with the Wolverines at No. 2. Ryan Day continues to scream to anybody listening that his team is different and they are tough. This is their year to break the losing streak to the Wolverines.
Transfer quarterback Will Howard has been playing well, but throws an interception on his first possession to Will Johnson and the Wolverines take an early lead. It is a lead they won’t relinquish despite the Buckeyes keeping it close. Edwards, though, once again shows why he is one of the best backs in the country and is an Ohio State killer. He scores twice in the fourth quarter to put the game away and the Wolverines do again, but will get Ohio State again in the Big Ten Championship.
The Buckeyes start off better in the Big Ten Championship game as they take an early lead, but the Wolverines impose their will once again and the running attack is just too much to stop. Orji goes for over 100 yards to compliment Edwards and the Wolverines take home their fourth straight Big Ten title.
Wolverines back in the playoffs
Michigan gets a bye and the top seed in the playoffs for a second straight year. In what looks like it could be a familiar path, they get Alabama who beats Liberty in the first round of the playoffs to get a rematch of the Rose Bowl from last year. The Wolverines once again show how to contain Jalen Milroe as they sack him six times and pick him off twice. This game doesn’t need overtime as the Wolverines come away with a 30-14 win.
In the semifinal they draw Georgia in the game everybody wanted last season. The Bulldogs had slipped to fourth despite winning the sixth seed as they lost to Texas in the SEC Championship game. Despite that, they beat North Carolina and then Utah to make the semifinals.
The Bulldogs and Wolverines trade blows, but have trouble scoring in the first half as they head into the break tied at seven. The defensive battle continues in the second half, but Edwards wears the Bulldogs defense down and scores with three minutes left to give the Wolverines the 17-10 win.
The win sets up a National Championship game with Ohio State. Of course, the best case scenario would be the Buckeyes to not even make the playoffs, but what would be better than Michigan beating Ohio State three times, with the last to take the National Title.
Day comes out to the media saying how they have devised a plan to stop the run. Moore counters and opens up the playbook early and Orji has two first-quarter touchdown passes. The Buckeyes must adjust and the Wolverines beat them with the run in the second half to put the game away. The Buckeyes self-destruct and the Wolverines get a huge 45-20 win to come away with their second straight National Championship.
Main Image: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
