What they're saying, predicting ahead of Michigan football vs. UNLV

Michigan Wolverines football will play host to UNLV in the second game of the season, after beating East Carolina, 30-3, last week. Here’s a look around the internet at what the media is saying and predicting before kickoff.

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Media makes predictions for Michigan vs. UNLV

TheWolverine.com
Chris Balas: U-M 41, UNLV 10
John Borton: U-M 52, UNLV 6
Clayton Sayfie: U-M 52, UNLV 10
Anthony Broome: U-M 45, UNLV 6
Doug Skene: U-M 38, UNLV 10

MLive
Andrew Kahn: U-M 48, UNLV 9
Ryan Zuke: U-M 48, UNLV 7
Aaron McMann: U-M 51, UNLV 10

Detroit Free Press
Tony Garcia: U-M 47, UNLV 10
Carlos Monarrez: U-M 34, UNLV 18
Rainer Sabin: U-M 48, UNLV 3
Jeff Seidel: U-M 51, UNLV 7
Shawn Windsor: U-M 37, UNLV 13

The Detroit News
Angelique S. Chengelis: U-M 41, UNLV 3
Matt Charboneau: U-M 45, UNLV 7
John Niyo: U-M 52, UNLV 14
Bob Wojnowski: U-M 48, UNLV 10

Tom Fornelli, CBSSports.com: Michigan vs. UNLV prediction, pick, spread, football game odds, live stream, watch online, TV channel

The spread is rather large, and I’m not sure I want to be sweating a five-touchdown lead late in the fourth quarter of this one. Instead, I’d take the over, as it could cash a lot earlier than that. With Sherrone Moore calling plays again, Michigan’s offense should look smoother than last week, and I don’t have a lot of faith in UNLV’s ability to stop it. However, on the other side of the ball, Michigan has the talent edge defensively, but UNLV’s offense can be tough to defend. It’s a run game designed to break big runs, and it only needs one missed assignment from a defender to make it happen. Don’t be surprised if the Rebels break off a few big plays and find the end zone, even if they never threaten to win the game. Pick: Over 58

Heather Dinich, ESPN.com: From FSU’s statement win to Coach Prime’s debut: A conference by conference look at Week 1’s effect on the CFP

Big Ten: Michigan still the team to beat
Deep breath, Ohio State fans.

The selection committee isn’t going to snub the Buckeyes because their normally unstoppable offense looked pedestrian in their first conference road game with a rookie quarterback. The group does look at how games unfold and digs deeper than the score, and it wasn’t always pretty for Ohio State and quarterback Kyle McCord against Indiana. The Buckeyes won, though, and the committee likes road wins, but it’s clear there is a learning curve ahead.

Rival Michigan simply looked better under the veteran leadership of quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was spot-on during the win against East Carolina. And Penn State, which officially introduced Drew Allar as its new starting quarterback in a win against West Virginia, also looked more competent offensively than the Buckeyes did.

This will be a problem for Ohio State in the CFP’s weekly ranking only if it doesn’t improve. Ohio State got into the top four last year without beating Michigan because it was so darn potent offensively, and it beat Penn State and Notre Dame. Those same opportunities remain.

The Buckeyes are still loaded with offensive star power at the skill positions, but you wouldn’t have known it Saturday. Their offense just needs to get into sync by the Sept. 23 trip to Notre Dame. Ohio State still has Youngstown State and Western Kentucky to work the kinks out before heading to South Bend.

None of these three Big Ten powers beat an elite top-25 opponent, but the committee will notice the difference in how they won.

Tom VanHaaren, ESPN.com: ESPN 2023 college football Power Rankings after Week 1

No. 3 Michigan Wolverines (1-0)
No coach Jim Harbaugh, no offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, no problem. With both serving suspensions, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter was the acting head coach against East Carolina and helped lead Michigan to its first win of the season. The offense, surprisingly, was led by the passing game and quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who threw for 280 yards and three passing touchdowns in three quarters of work. Running back Blake Corum had a rushing touchdown, but it was receiver Roman Wilson who put up the most points, catching three McCarthy touchdowns. Michigan’s defense held East Carolina scoreless until a field goal on the final play of the game.

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic: Mandel’s Mailbag: Can Clemson contend again? Can LSU respond to opening loss?

I saw lots of people complaining on Twitter/X this weekend about the new first-down clock rule and how it’s wiping out too many plays, but those comments mostly pointed to anecdotal evidence and single-game stats. What’s the truth? It’s only Week 1, but was there actually a significant drop in average plays per game? — Connor from Philly

There were some crazy stats flying around Twitter that weren’t remotely accurate. I don’t have official data, but unofficially, using data from TeamRankings.com (and limited to only FBS vs. FBS games), the median team plays per game so far is 68.5. For the 2022 season, it was 70.1. So the median team averaged a modest 1.6 fewer plays.

But we don’t have nearly enough data yet to draw any conclusions. For one thing, 34 teams have not yet played an FBS opponent. Also, these early season games include a whole lot of lopsided contests where the winning team gets up big and mostly runs out the clock. It would have had fewer plays regardless of the clock rules.

Let’s check back once most teams get into conference play.

Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press: Expect Michigan football to get run game going vs. UNLV: Scouting report, prediction

Michigan ran between the tackles 12 times for 30 yards on Saturday; that 2.5-yard average is a far cry from 2022’s 5.9-yard average between the tackles. Certainly, ECU’s game plan had much to do with it, but the offensive line will need time to jell as well. Karsen Barnhart moved from the right side to the left, while center Drake Nugent and right tackle Myles Hinton both transferred in from Stanford. Michigan is in a perfect setup for a bounce-back performance: an overmatched opponent on the heels of everybody praising the pass game.

William Schwartz, MLive: Michigan vs. UNLV: Odds, predictions and best bets

Best Bet: Over 57.5 (-110)
Michigan’s season opener was surprisingly low-scoring, as the Wolverines never quite stepped on the gas the way many thought they might against East Carolina. Part of this was because they had some offensive struggles, but part was also that they were comfortable. After a certain point, there was no need for them to give it their all. UNLV’s offense is much more likely than Eastern Carolina’s to force them to do so, especially after a great first outing under the Odom/Marion regime. The Rebels will score some points of their own, and by doing so, force the Wolverines to keep answering into the second half. They’re also more likely than ECU to score some “garbage time” points against Michigan’s backups and drive the total up that way. The other major development is of course the return of Moore. It’s great for Michigan if they can throw the ball effectively, but the core of this team’s offensive identity is a bruising run game, and if that comes back with their o-line guru, the overall unit will become much more dangerous.