ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It took Michigan football the entire game to put Fresno State away, but away the Bulldogs were put, and the Wolverines are 1-0 as a result.
There were both a lot of good things and a lot of bad things to takeaway from the 2024 season opener, a game in which the offense appeared disjointed but the defense dominated. Were these signs of things to come or is it just growing pains for a team that had a lot of turnover — players and coaches, alike.
With a really tough schedule, which ramps up in a hurry with Texas coming to town next week, there’s little time for the team to improve upon its perceived weaknesses, but the strengths certainly bode well for Michigan to stay in every game.
That said, here are our five takeaways from the 30-10 win over Fresno State in Week 1.
1
The offense is clearly a work in progress
Photo: Isaiah Hole
Usually playing a Group of Five program in the season opener would mean that the Wolverines would be celebrating in the end zone early and often. And while Michigan celebrated early, it didn’t do so often.
There were only two offensive touchdowns in the season opener — on the first drive on a pass from Alex Orji to Donovan Edwards, and on the final drive on a pass to Colston Loveland. But Davis Warren wasn’t asked to do much in the passing game, passing mostly horizontally rather than downfield — with limited success. The run game didn’t get going until the final drive of the game when Kalel Mullings took over. The playcalling felt disjointed in Kirk Campbell’s second game as the offensive coordinator (he also called the East Carolina game last year). Michigan will learn from this, but it doesn’t have much time to do so with Texas up next week.
More games like this and the Wolverines could struggle to celebrate in similar ways as it has the past three years. However…
2
The defense is scary
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