I love the value we are getting with Michigan here on the road against Utah and I'm going to go ahead and make it an official max play. First of all these two teams have a lot more in common then you'd think. Strong defenses that will rely on the running game to win a game. Both will play in a lot of close games and I can't imagine Michigan not being within a field goal here. Utah's offense took some big hits in terms of playmakers and they go up against a very experienced Michigan defense. I expect it to be a very low scoring game. Utah's strength of a pass rush should not play a part on Thursday night I just don't see Iowa transfer Jake Rudock being asked to do a ton other than not turning the ball over. Michigan was -16 in turnover margin last year and are among the teams that have a great chance at improving. Since 1991 teams with -10 or more TO margin 79% improved or stayed the same. The additiona of Jake Rudock from Iowa - 16TD / 5 INT will almost certainly guarantee that.
Utah also did not have the home field advantage it previously had losing to Washington State and Oregon last year and beating USC by 3. Utah has a bigger game the following week against in state rival Utah State. For Michigan this is a bigger game and Jim Harbaugh's coming out party. It's rare that you will get a team like Michigan with an elite defense as a 5 point under dog on the road to open the season against a team whose offense returns just 6 starters and ranked 98th in yards per play on offense. Bottom line...
Michigan's defense is stronger - top 10 run defense home and away, they both have similar offenses with QB's that did not turn the ball over last year, and both can stop the run, but I believe Michigan is just a bit better on defense, and running the ball, and the coaching has improved significantly with a team that has always had more talent. Jim Harbough in his past has taken a bit of time improving his teams, but his last two stops in college were San Diego taking them 7-4, and then 22-2 after, STanford was 16-40 before Harbough got there then went 9-15 and 20-6. However, Harbough never got this much talent right away and I think the results should be truly amazing with a ton of close games because of this defense.
