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Michigan Football: Way-too-early game-by-game predictions for 2018

By Connor Muldowney

ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 28: Running back Karan Higdon
ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 28: Running back Karan Higdon /
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ANN ARBOR MI – OCTOBER 10: Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald walks with his team prior to the start of the game against the Michigan Wolverines on October 10, 2015 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR MI – OCTOBER 10: Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald walks with his team prior to the start of the game against the Michigan Wolverines on October 10, 2015 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /

Michigan will take that 1-0 Big Ten record on the road to face off against a hungry Northwestern team looking to prove itself. It finished the 2017 season ranked and Pat Fitzgerald once again proved that he’s one of the most underrated coaches in the Big Ten, if not the country.

Games at Northwestern are never truly “road” games for opponents as the stadium is almost evenly split and Michigan fans travel well. The Wolverines will feel right at home in Evanston and that will lead to a second Big Ten victory to start the season.

Shea Patterson will have no trouble moving the ball against Northwestern’s average secondary and he’ll finish with over 300 yards for the second time in three games. His running backs will struggle early, but eventually combine for 150 yards on the ground and Michigan will rebound from an early deficit to win.

Clayton Thorson’s injury suffered in the Music City Bowl will be completely healed by this point, but he will be suffering from a lack of trust in that leg early on in the season. Moreover, he won’t have Justin Jackson to rely on anymore.

Final Score: Michigan 37, Northwestern 21 (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten)

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