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The Wolverine Live: Balas and Skene react to season-opening win

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•09/04/22•

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Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh quarterback Cade McNamara
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and his team, along with the rest of the Big Ten, will be seen on several networks next year. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The Wolverine‘s Chris Balas and former All-Big Ten offensive lineman Doug Skene recap Michigan’s 51-7 win over Colorado State in Week 1. The defense was much improved from last year, but quarterback questions remain after a slow start for the offense.

RELATED

• Michigan 51, CSU 7: Notes, quotes, and observations

• Defense/ST notes: With ‘a chip on our shoulder,’ Michigan dominates Colorado State in debut

Balas and Skene discussed all of the storylines and took fan questions during their Sunday night discussion. They’ll meet up each week at 7 p.m. Sunday night to chat about the biggest storylines from the day before.

Watch or listen to the Michigan discussion below

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The Wolverine’s video schedule

The Wolverine will be enhancing its video footprint with the season now underway. Here is the full schedule of programs each week on our YouTube channel. They will also appear in our podcast feed after broadcast.

All times listed are eastern.

Mondays at 6 p.m. – Chris Balas, Clayton Sayfie, Anthony Broome

Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. – John Borton

Wednesdays at 7 p.m. – EJ Holland’s recruiting show

Thursdays (pre-recorded) at 4 p.m. – Chris Balas, Clayton Sayfie, Anthony Broome

Football postgame show (Live ASAP after game) – Anthony Broome and Ryan Van Bergen

Sundays at 7 p.m. – Chris Balas and Doug Skene

Weighing in on the Michigan win

“The thing that strikes me the most is the opener is when you usually get the most blown coverages or muffed punts, quarterback center exchange, turnovers. Really, nothing,” Harbaugh said after the game. “There was one penalty on the offense, no turnovers. No communication issues. No delay of games, both on the headsets of the defense, the offense, special teams. Just a real tip of the cap to the coaches and players for the preparation coming into this game.”

Despite changes in personnel, Michigan maintained all offseason it would remain balanced in its attack. The Wolverines finished the day with 440 yards of total offense (206 passing, 234 rushing) and averaged 6.5 yards per play. They held the edge in time of possession (30:30) and converted on all 7 red zone opportunities (4 touchdowns and 3 field goals).

“It was a clean game,” senior quarterback Cade McNamara, who got the start, said. “We had one penalty, we had no turnovers. There was some stuff that didn’t go our way, but I thought we handled it pretty well. Building off of this, I think it was kind of first-game stuff. I missed a couple of targets, we had a couple of drops. It just looked like a first game, I felt like, on the offensive side of the ball. So, we definitely have to clean that up, and I’m going to be a part of that.”

The Wolverines will host Hawaii in Week 2 at 8 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network. McCarthy gets the start at quarterback with the staff set to make a further determination ahead of Week 3 versus UConn.

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