Michigan football faces its final non-conference opponent of the season, hosting SMU in Week 3. Who will emerge from the game victorious?
Michigan squares off against SMU this week at the Big House to conclude the non-conference slate for the Wolverines. Conference play begins in full next week with a visit from Nebraska so this is the Wolverines final shot at a tune-up game.
Michigan sits at 1-1. After an opening week loss at Notre Dame, the Wolverines bounced back last week by trouncing Western Michigan. Quarterback Shea Patterson looked good, tossing three touchdown passes while the Wolverine rushing attack bowled over the Broncos. Running backs Karan Higdon and Chris Evans combined for 242 yards and three scores on the ground.
SMU has started the season 0-2 with losses to both North Texas and TCU. In neither game did the Mustangs look particularly good. SMU is only scoring 17.5 points per game while their defense is allowing teams 44 points a game.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 15
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Ann Arbor, Mich.
Venue: Michigan Stadium
TV: BTN
Live Stream: BTN2Go or FuboTV
Keys to Victory
For the Wolverines, they should have a similar strategy to last week against Western Michigan. Establish the run to setup some big pass plays for Shea Patterson and the receivers. The Michigan defense is one of the best in the country talent wise. They should not have much trouble containing an SMU offense that has struggled thus far.
Besides hoping for a miracle, SMU needs to play mistake free in all facets of the game. One thing going for them is their defensive line. It is not out of this world, but could hold its own against a Michigan offensive line that has been less than stellar.
It is a tough task for the SMU offense to go up against the Michigan defense, but perhaps running back Braeden West can find some running lanes. West leads the team in rushing yards and is averaging 5.5 yards a carry.
Betting Odds
Courtesy of OddsShark
Point Spread: Michigan -35
Over/Under: 53.5
Prediction
This one is not going to be pretty and likely a duplicate of Michigan’s rout of Western Michigan. SMU does not have the athletes to keep up with Michigan and are struggling more on offense now than they probably should be. Facing Michigan’s defense is not the time to be fixing offensive woes.
The Wolverines establish the running game with Higdon and Evans and get Patterson some easy completions. This one will be over before halftime. Besides getting the win, the Wolverines need to hope they avoid any injuries before starting conference play.
Final Score: Michigan 45, SMU 10