College Football Predictions – Michigan Wolverines 2020 College Football Preview
July 2020
OCTOBER 2020 – Updated schedule notes. Opt-outs include QB D McCaffrey, WR N Collins, OL J Mayfield, CB A Thomas.
2019 Recap
Record – 9-4
ATS – 7-6
It was another decent year for the Wolverines, but as has been the case for a while, they couldn’t get past their good friends in Columbus. In fact, this time around, they were SMOKED (L 56-27) and followed up that disaster with a loss to ROLL TIDE in the Citrus Bowl (L 35-16). They also dropped games along the way to Penn St and Wisconsin, so you could say that they lost every tough game other than their yuuuuge win over Notre Dame (W 45-14).
Let’s check in and see if they have a shot at finally getting past Ohio St.
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
East Division – TBD
Big 10 – TBD
Michigan Wolverines 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
There are lots of changes on offense and it all starts at QB where the Wolverines move on from the Shea Patterson experiment. Patterson was inconsistent LY (23-8 TD to INT, 56%) and wasn’t an ideal fit for the Josh Gattis offense. The battle this year will be between Dylan McCaffery (more mobility) and Joe Milton (more polished in the THROW GAME) and it’s very likely we’ll see a lot of both this year. The THROW GAME will be helped by the return of WRs Nico Collins and Ronnie Bell who combined for almost 1,500 yards and 8 TDs LY. They also return TE Nick Eubanks. Michigan boasts one of the deeper RB units in the conference and return starter Zack Charbonnet (726, 11 TD LY) and backup Hassan Haskins (622, 5.1). The offensive line is a question mark given the departure of four starters and note that the Wolverines were #8 in the Big Ten in rushing offense LY.
Michigan was mid-pack in scoring offense (#6 Big Ten) and total offense (#7) LY and we’ll call for a similar performance this year. There is definitely upside if one (or both) of the new QBs can rise to the occasion.
DEFENSE
The defense allowed more than 20 PPG for the first time since 2014 LY (20.7) and were particularly disappointing when you look at how they performed vs the better teams on the schedule. Overall, a very good, but not great performance. There is plenty of talent returning on this side of the ball (again) and we expect them to be a bit stingier. It starts up front with a fine pair of DEs (Aidan Hutchinson, Kwity Paye) who combined for 11 sacks LY. Junior LB Cameron McGrone is an emerging star and the secondary and their safety combo of Daxton Hill and Brad Hawkins is one of the best in the conference. Michigan bagged 36 sacks LY (#5 Big Ten) and haven’t had fewer than 30 since 2014. We expect another strong year out of the defense and they are obviously one of the most talented stop units in the conference.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Michigan will likely go with the same pair of PKs in some shared duty action. Hopefully Quinn Nordin and Jake Moody can do better than LY (16/22, 10-16 from 30+). Punter Will Hart returns but they will need to find a new PR given the departure of Donovan Peoples-Jones. KR Giles Jackson took one to the HOUSE LY.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The plandemic schedule has the facing Minnesota (A) and Wisconsin (H) which isn’t ideal. Things will get decided in their final three games when they face Penn St (H) and Ohio St (A).
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Maryland (Dec 5)
This contest in sandwiched between the aforementioned games with the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes. Not sure we’ll want to lay the yuuuuuge chalk in this one.
Season Win Total
TBD
MEGALOCKS says:
TBD
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Michigan has a disappointing all-time 21-27 mark in bowl games. That includes an 8-12 record in the Rose Bowl, the GRANDADDY OF THE THEM ALL.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
We have a sneaky suspicion that this will be another very good, but not great Michigan team. For the record, we don’t think they get enough credit for a solid five-year run (47 wins), but they need to beat the Buckeyes once every seemingly 65 years for many fans to be happy. They’ll be good on both sides of the ball but need to prove they can win games vs tough opponents before we can consider them legit challengers for the Big Ten East title.
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NEWS
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