What they're saying, predicting ahead of Michigan vs. Bowling Green

Michigan Wolverines football and Bowling Green will do battle Saturday night under the lights at The Big House. Here’s a look around the internet at what they’re saying before kickoff.

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Media predicts outcome of Michigan vs. Bowling Green

TheWolverine.com
Chris Balas: U-M 41, Bowling Green 7
John Borton: U-M 41, Bowling Green 10
Clayton Sayfie: U-M 48, Bowling Green 0
Anthony Broome: U-M 45, Bowling Green 0
Doug Skene: U-M 45, Bowling Green 10

MLive
Andrew Kahn: U-M 48, Bowling Green 10
Aaron McMann: U-M 38, Bowling Green 3
Ryan Zuke: U-M 44, Bowling Green 7

Detroit Free Press
Tony Garcia: U-M 45, Bowling Green 9
Carlos Monarrez: U-M 48, Bowling Green 6
Rainer Sabin: U-M 42, Bowling Green 7
Jeff Seidel: U-M 42, Bowling Green 6
Shawn Windsor: U-M 42, Bowling Green 10

The Detroit News
Nolan Bianchi: U-M 38, Bowling Green 3
Angelique S. Chengelis: U-M 42, Bowling Green 10
John Niyo: U-M 49, Bowling Green 13
Bob Wojnowski: U-M 44, Bowling Green 5

Bill Connelly, ESPN.com: Connelly’s Week 2 recap: Believe Texas hype, Pac-12 surging

As with Michigan and Ohio State, the Nittany Lions have faced only partial tests. But PSU has overachieved in the same way the Wolverines and Buckeyes have underachieved, and it’s up to fourth in SP+. The battle for the division and conference titles — and, in theory, one or two CFP bids — is getting quite a bit more interesting.

Matt Milller, ESPN.com: Top NFL draft prospects, risers, buzz, notes from CFB Week

McCarthy was expected to have a very good stat line against UNLV, and he lived up to those expectations. He started the day 11-of-11, including one particularly awesome throw between Cover 2 defenders up the seam to Cornelius Johnson. A scout for an AFC team who was watching the game texted me that McCarthy is “a better moving Kirk Cousins,” a compliment to his efficient and accurate style of play. McCarthy carves up defenses with touch and timing, and he did so Saturday with 22-of-25 passing for 278 yards, two touchdowns and an QBR of 96.1. He stacks up as a late first-rounder on my board and is climbing in the race for QB3 behind Caleb Williams and Drake Maye.

Ari Wasserman, The Athletic: CFB recruiting thoughts: Are Texas, Oklahoma SEC ready? Is Deion primed to make a move?

What do you make of Michigan? The Wolverines have flipped their rivalry by beating Ohio State two consecutive years, and the Wolverines are likely going to be favored this year with The Game returning to Ann Arbor. Michigan has done that despite having considerably less raw talent on its roster than Ohio State. When you compare Ohio State’s classes side-by-side with Michigan’s classes … well, there’s no comparison. Yet, somehow Jim Harbaugh has found a way. Obviously, he has done well with plugging in key pieces from the transfer portal, and it goes without saying how well the Wolverines staff has developed the talent it has signed. But the fact Michigan has become the premier program in the Big Ten without the recruiting numbers to back it up has been quite surprising.

I’m still skeptical of whether Michigan is athletically built to beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten championship and win two consecutive CFP games to win a national title, but heck, I’ve been wrong about them so far. It would be very easy to look at Michigan’s 2024 class and ask, “Where is all of the premier talent?” I think if you’re a Michigan fan in an honest moment, you may acknowledge that the recruiting results have the Wolverines facing an uphill battle to win it all. But Harbaugh recruits the guys he likes and develops the heck out of them, so maybe it’s time to stop comparing Michigan’s classes to Ohio State’s until the results on the field make us revisit it.

Austin Meek, The Athletic: Michigan strength coach Ben Herbert stories: ‘It’s like he’s staring into your entire soul’

Chris Hutchinson: If it hadn’t been for Ben showing Aidan how to work out and push his body, Aidan probably wouldn’t be where he is now. He wasn’t one of those 17-year-old kids that’s ready for the front of the swimsuit magazine with a six-pack. He was a young 17. Ben does what he does. He took this young kid who wanted to work his butt off and molded him into the second pick.

There’s no other coach on that staff that year-round has that much interaction with the players. That’s why that coach is so pivotal. During the season, your position coach takes more of a front seat, but Herbert never leaves. He’s always around

Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News: Predictions: Michigan football vs. Bowling Green

I remember way back when Michigan had a dominant running game and a questionable passing game. Haha. The script has flipped, but not permanently. The Wolverines are just doing what it takes to get through a weak non-conference, and that means J.J. McCarthy throwing to wide-open receivers, while defenses stack up to stop the run. Blake Corum or Donovan Edwards is due to break out, and Bowling Green is a middlin’ MAC team, so a breakout is likely. Falcons quarterback Connor Bazelak is turnover-prone, so Michigan should do some ball-hawking. Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore is wearing the headset for suspended Jim Harbaugh, and it really shouldn’t make a difference.

Pete Truszkowski, Sidelines Group: Michigan vs. Bowling Green: Odds, predictions, props and best bets

Best bet: Under 53.5 points
The total for this game is in the 50s despite the spread being in the 40s. The math isn’t hard to figure out: oddsmakers aren’t expecting much scoring from Bowling Green in this one. They expect Michigan to carry the scoring in this one. For that reason, we’re leaning towards the under. Michigan has yet to eclipse 35 points this season. In the past, this was a team that bullied inferior opponents and ran up scores. That hasn’t been the case this season. Maybe Jim Harbaugh not being on the sidelines has something to do with that. We expect Michigan to win comfortably, Bowling Green to score very little, and the Wolverines to keep things vanilla before conference play begins. Both Michigan games have gone under the total so far this season.