Staff Predictions: Michigan football vs. Colorado State

Michigan opens the season Saturday against Colorado State on what’s expected to be a scorcher in Ann Arbor (now predicted for 89 degrees, mostly sunny skies). It’s reminiscent of the 1995 Pigskin Classic, Lloyd Carr’s first game as head coach, when fans were dropping like flies from the heat and the Wolverines’ offense took a while to get cooking.

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When it did, though, it ended with one of the most memorable plays in recent Michigan history. Scott Dreisbach to Mercury Hayes for the win capped a comeback from 17-0 down in the fourth quarter. Just think — a few inches (inbounds) might have changed the trajectory of Michigan football as we know it.

Unfortunately, a bad hire a decade and a half later ended up doing that in the opposite direction …

But … we digress. Other than to say, did you know that team had as many multi-year NFL quarterbacks on one team (three) as the program has had since? And that’s only if you use “multi-year” lightly.

Yeah, that position is kind of important. Look no further than that to understand why Michigan struggled to win a title since 2004 before stunning anyone and winning it last year. Now, the Wolverines have two that are more than capable, including a Big Ten champion in Cade McNamara and a guy with all the tools for long term NFL success in J.J. McCarthy.

How head coach Jim Harbaugh navigates that will be extremely important to U-M’s chances to repeat. We’re glad it’s him, not us making the decisions on how to handle it.

As for this week’s opponent, Colorado State — as most know, this is when we usually shred the opponent, or at least poke a little fun.

Not this week.

There’s a lot to like about the Rams, frankly, starting with A.D. Joe Parker. The Michigan Man and former U-M swimmer, senior associate A.D., is one of the class guys we’ve met in this profession, and he still loves his alma mater. Plus, Colorado State has an outstanding meteorology program (who doesn’t love predicting the weather? The only profession you can be wrong as often as former TheWolverine.com staffer Austin Fox was in staff picks and still remain employed).

Case in point — this Saturday’s forecast has gone from 75 and partly cloudy to 85 and sunny to 88 and afternoon storms to 89 and mostly sunny within a week.

So, bring your waters, folks, and enjoy the start to what should be an outstanding year for Michigan football. Keep in mind, four of six staffers picked U-M to beat Georgia in the Orange Bowl last year, so a friendly reminder — these picks are for entertainment purposes only. And some will be thoroughly amusing, even with Fox out of the picture.

The picks:

CHRIS BALAS: Air raid or not, Colorado State will be overmatched Saturday, especially defensively. But the Rams will take their shots, and they’ll probably have some success. It’s a tough scheme for an opener.

Michigan scores early and often and runs away with it in the second half. Michigan 41, Colorado State 16

JOHN BORTON: There will be a stumble or two in the opener, like always. But QB audition No. 1 will eventually end up in an offensive stampede in the home corral. Michigan 42, Colorado State 17

CLAYTON SAYFIE: After Jim Harbaugh quoted The Bible Monday by saying “no man knows the future,” this whole practice seems foolish, but here we go. Colorado State is tricky given it has 54 new players and a fresh coaching staff, led by Jay Novell, who saw success at Nevada. But the Wolverines will be inspired and have been ready to play a game for weeks, Harbaugh said. 

Cade McNamara will make some plays early, and the run game will have success. The Rams will score twice but it won’t be nearly enough. Michigan 45, Colorado State 10

ANTHONY BROOME: The opener is the hardest game to pick. The hype of the offseason comes to a fever pitch and then it is time to throw on the shoulder pads and play football. We think we know how good this team can be, but we will not truly know until toe meets leather on Saturday.

I like the way this team handles its business and in a lot of ways it does feel like a continuation of last year. The names and the faces change, but the culture is intact. Michigan acts and operates like a program that has championship aspirations and now it has hardware to prove it. There is so much pent-up energy in that building right now.

Cade McNamara gets the first crack at the starting job and will need a sharp opener to make his pitch for the position moving forward. Given that he is a captain, he has the opportunity to be the rising tide that lifts all boats. I expect a clean and productive performance from the offense. The defense will have its growing pains against a team that likes to air the ball out, but will ultimately bend and not break.

Michigan covers the hefty spread, McNamara does not turn over the football and completes a few chunk passes through the air.

Your move, No. 9. Michigan 49, Colorado State 16

DOUG KARSCH: There is a direct correlation between one’s height and one’s ability to pick the outcome of Michigan football games. I am 6-foot-4 and correctly picked the outcome of all 14 Michigan games last year. 

Chris Balas is 5-foot-8.

(Editor’s Note):

(End Editor’s Note)

Today we start a new season with a match-up that is so easy to pick … let’s just say, even certain staff members under 5-foot-9 can get this one correct.

With QBs still battling and trying to prove a point you have to think the gas pedal will be pushed to the floor the entire time. And with so many pass catchers and a stable of talented backs … they’re all going to want to eat. Colorado State comes to the Big House with a reported 59 new players on the roster, so they might be tough to predict.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that Michigan rolls. Michigan 59, Colorado State 10

DOUG SKENE: Michigan should demonstrate its offensive strengths without opening up the entire playbook.  I expect a dominant performance from the O-Line and rushing stats over 200 yards.
The “no stars” Michigan defense should have its way with this middle-ranked Mountain West team.

This is a non-Kool-aid game, so I’m not going to get excited about a big Michigan win. But I am very interested in seeing what kind of pass rush the Michigan D-line can generate on its own. Michigan 52, Colorado State 14