There’s nothing quite as fulfilling as a wire-to-wire victory where your team comes out strong and dominates. Relaxation sets in. Stats are padded. Young reserves come in and get experience. The final tallies may trick the casual score-ticker watcher into thinking Michigan did just that.

Alas, they did not.

And it’s much less fulfilling when it’s well into the 2nd quarter and you are down 14-7 to one of the worst teams in FBS, best known as the alma mater of Tim Hardaway Senior. Michigan ended the game on a 45-3 run, which was nice, and some of those benefits (oh, hello Tommy) were felt. But halftime felt like Week 1 all over again. Only Western would dog walk the Miners if they played, and last week’s dispatching of #11 Oklahoma had given us a glimmer of hope. So in many ways, this felt worse.

The expected dominant run game wasn’t there, and while right tackle Andrew Sprague’s super-late scratch and subsequent reshuffling of the offensive line is an excuse, it is not excuse enough. Toss in two more first-half fumbles lost and the waters are really chummed-up for our future opponents, who will no doubt be targeting the football with every tackle.

But ya, the bright spots were there. Hiter is a beast, and if some consistency can be patchworked out of the O-line, we should be seeing century marks for him each week. There were a couple of Bryce throws and Marsh catches (and YAC porn) that were about as good as we’ve seen in many a year here in old Ann Arbor town…and one absolutely spectacular passing TD from Carr to Moa in mop-up time. Bryce’s celebration with him was pretty great too.

So is the non-conference slate of 2026 a success? On paper, decidedly so. 3-0 is all that matters, with a ranked win that was a 60/40 shot before the season and probably a 20/80 shot after Week 1’s debacle. And it looks like there is improvement in places, flashes of brilliance in others. Buchanan, Marsh, Hiter…these fellas are going to be stars.

Bryce remains a question mark. I think he can make some throws. I think he can take off and change a game with his legs. I’m not yet convinced he can win a game when everyone in the stadium knows Michigan needs him to. And I’m not sure he can avoid the catastrophic error when that pressure is on.

Fortunately, this team is currently led and motivated by a defense that was crazy dominant, especially in the second half. Three games in, I don't know if Michigan has a championship offense. I'm increasingly convinced it has a championship-caliber defense. And maybe that's enough.

Hiter doesn't need 200 yards. Bryce doesn't need 350. They don't need to score 45 every Saturday. Protect the football. Establish Hiter. Get Buchanan and Marsh involved. Hit a couple explosive plays. Make opponents respect the possibility that Bryce can beat them. Get better. Also, stop handing the other team the goddamn football.

3-0. A ranked win. Some emerging stars. No catastrophic injuries. And a whole lot we still don't know. I guess that's about as successful a non-conference schedule 3 games into a coaching regime as you could ask for…or that you should ask for. — Side note: I like Whit. I think he’s going to be good, maybe great. However, and maybe it’s just me, I DO NOT LIKE HIS SIDELINE FACE. I worry that when things go south there’s gonna be a plethora of Mitch McConnell and/or Uncle Leo memes. “I’m an old man, I’m confused!”

Anyway, onward…

Michigan moves on to Big Ten play, where problems tend to be magnified. A sloppy half will lead to a loss. Iowa is coming to town to play some Iowa football. Disciplined, physical, mistake-free…and almost completely devoid of anything resembling an offense.

Go Blue.

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The Scoreboard Will Never Know: Michigan 52 - UTEP 17

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