Kyle Whittingham didn’t get an easy opponent in his first game as the University of Michigan’s head coach.
The longtime Utah coach was hired to bring a sense of calm and order to a storied program rocked by scandals in recent years. Whittingham replaced Sherrone Moore, who was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with an athletic department staff member.
The 16th-ranked Wolverines will open the season against defending Mid-American Conference champion Western Michigan on Saturday night in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“You want to play well every week, but certainly in your opener, you get a chance to find out who you are and what you’re all about and what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are,” he said. “But there will be bigger tests down the road — not to be disparaging to Western Michigan. They’re a really good team. I mean, they won the MAC last year, and we are not overlooking them in any way, shape, or form. But we know that the degree of difficulty as the season moves on goes up, and so this will be a good opportunity to see where we are.”
The Wolverines’ program sagged during Moore’s two full seasons, compiling a combined 17-9 record. Whittingham’s aim of getting the program back into Big Ten and national championship contention this season likely hinges on the improvement of sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood.
Underwood came to the program with much fanfare and a seven-figure NIL deal, but his freshman campaign was underwhelming. He completed 60.3% of his passes while throwing nearly as many interceptions (9) as touchdowns (11). He was ineffective in each of the team’s four losses.
“We feel he’s markedly better through fall camp than he was at any point in spring,” Whittingham said. “Now, there hasn’t been any live work for him. Obviously, he’s not been tackled…. But how he’s operated and how he’s gone through his reads, just how he’s got command of the offense is way further ahead than what you saw in spring.”
The Broncos went 10-4 last season after starting out at 0-3 in the nonconference portion of the schedule. They come into this season as the MAC favorites.
“This team has really high goals,” head coach Lance Taylor said.
Quarterback Broc Lowry and running back Jalen Buckley chose to return rather than transfer and they’ll test the Michigan defense.
Lowry was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year, completing 63.4% of his passes while being intercepted just three times in 262 attempts. Lowry was even more dangerous with his feet, rushing for 963 yards and a team-high 14 touchdowns.
“He has really elevated his game,” Taylor said. “You can tell he is confident where he wants to go with the ball and he’s accurate. And we’ve got really good skill players that can create separation.”
Buckley rushed for over 1,000 yards for the second time in his career while earning All-MAC Third Team honors. Buckley was also dynamic in the postseason, erupting for 193 yards and two touchdowns in the MAC championship against Miami (Ohio) and 174 yards on just eight carries, including a touchdown, in the Myrtle Beach Bowl against Kennesaw State.
