Utah-Michigan Odds and Pick
August 30, 2008
The Rich Rodriguez era begins in Michigan on Saturday, but his Wolverines don’t have a cupcake lined up for the first game of the season. The Utah Utes will be visiting Ann Arbor and are looking to improve on their solid finish to the 2007 season. Expectations for both teams are high in this non-conference opener.
Utah returns one of the best QBs in Mountain West Conference in Brian Johnson. For the Utes to be successful, they are going to need Johnson to progress as a passer and take advantage of some surprisingly talented wide receivers. Something to keep in mind about this offense however, is that they aren’t used to the same caliber of competition week-in and week-out playing in the MWC as a team like Michigan, who faces a much difficult schedule from year to year.
Again, you’ll have to take conference strength into consideration, but the Utah defense’s numbers from a year ago are pretty impressive. They ended up ranked 5th in the entire nation in points allowed with 16.85 per game. The major strength for this team a year ago was their pass defense. They have their best starters from the secondary returning for the ‘08 campaign so the defensive backfield should again be a group the team can look to step up and make big plays when they need them.
A new head coach and a new offense in Michigan will bring somewhat of a change to the Big 10 this year. Rodriguez’s spread option offense is difficult to defend when you have playmakers at key positions, but the Wolverines have a lot of unknowns at skill spots and learning a new, complex system is never easy for young players. The entire offense is what you might all a work-in-progress. There’s certainly potential, but it may take several games for them to make the necessary adjustments to be successful with this new scheme.
Michigan continues to have a strong tradition of good defense. They had the 8th best pass defense in the nation as far as yards allowed per game, something that was somewhat overlooked in the success they had later in the 2007 season. The Wolverines return 7 of their starters on the the defensive side of the ball, so this should be a very strong unit in 2008 as well.
Utah is a program that has flown under the radar as a result of being in a weaker conference, but that doesn’t mean they can’t challege a team like Michagan, even in the Big House. Michigan should be excited about starting a new era, but they can’t get away from the smash mouth defense that has helped make them successful in the past. JustBet.com has the line set in favor of the home team, Michigan -3, but don’t shy away from a very good Utah team at +3, who could pull off the upset against a rebuilding Wolverine squad.
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