Michigan Wolverines Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players
Michigan Wolverines Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Michigan season with what you need to know and keys to the season.
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Michigan Wolverines Preview
Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh, 8th year at Michigan, 61-24
16th year overall, 119-51, 2021 Preview
2021 Record: Overall: 12-2, Conference: 8-1
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan Top 10 Players | Michigan Schedule & Analysis
Michigan Wolverines Preview 2022
It was the right thing to say if you’re Jim Harbaugh and your wonderful breakthrough season just hit a brick wall against the eventual national champion.
The line after losing to Georgia 34-11 in the Orange Bowl was that this was all just the beginning.
Beating Ohio State, winning the Big Ten Championship, going to the College Football Playoff – that’s all supposed to be expected at Michigan, and for a long time that seemed just out of reach.
The 2018 team was right there until Ohio State hung 62 on the board. The 2016 team was in the mix, too, until the Buckeyes had other ideas, and the 2015 version would’ve at least gone into the final weekend against that team from Columbus – forgetting the 42-13 loss – with a shot at big things had the roof not caved in against Michigan State.
So yes and no. 2021 might not have been the beginning because – for what Michigan was able to do – the program has at least seen the base camp near the top of the mountain only to have Ohio State blocking the path. But yes, that has to be the start of Michigan not only doing all of that again, but taking it further.
Last year might have shown what Michigan is capable of, but it also proved that it doesn’t yet have it to be among the Alabamas, and the other seasonal SEC superstars, and the Ohio States as a true annual threat.
Cincinnati got to the College Football Playoff, too.
Yeah, the team had a great no-panic style, amazing defense, tough attitude for the ground game, and an overall even keel, and …
Ohio State was a wee bit down, at least defensively.
Everything has to align perfectly for just about everyone but Alabama to get into the College Football Playoff, but because it’s Michigan, and Harbaugh, and that most self-congratulatory of Leaders and Best programs it’s always going to be under more scrutiny.
Combine all of the factors of being Michigan with the real world reality that Harbaugh would be in the NFL right now if the league didn’t pivot to the lowball cheap for its head coaches, and the team is in more about a refresh than a launching point.
And that’s okay – for now.
Ohio State went from being miserable and grouchy about everything to being miserable and grouchy about everything and ultra-motivated.
The pressure is all on that side, meaning Harbaugh gets a wee bit of a free pass for the first time in his era. He proved he could beat Ohio State, and he proved he could take Michigan to the big-time – he proved it really is possible.
Now it’s his angle to put together another strong team with new coordinators and a whole slew of new parts, all while letting Ohio State press on through the unrelenting weight and 24/7 obsession of having to live with the stain of a loss to That Team Up North.
The Wolverine fan base obviously wants to win every year – and Harbaugh had better beat Michigan State this time around – but for this one season, the program can bask a little bit.
Michigan is in a nice spot. It’s going to be good, the monkeys are off all the backs for the time being, and the schedule works out really, really, really well to gear back up for a relatively-speaking-compared-to-the-other-powers under-the-radar good season.
In other words, whatever. You’re Michigan. Do it again.
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan Top 10 Players | Michigan Schedule & Analysis
Michigan Wolverines Preview 2022: Offense, Defense Breakdown NEXT
Michigan Wolverines Preview 2022: Offense
More steady than sensational, the Michigan offense led the Big Ten in rushing, led the Big Ten in fewest sacks allowed, led the nation in fewest tackles for loss per game allowed, balanced its way to 443 yards per game, didn’t turn the ball over enough to be a problem, was great on third downs, and was … solid.
Now it has to continue with a new offensive coordinator, actually, two.
Matt Weiss spent last year working with the quarterbacks – and several years before working with the Baltimore Ravens – and Sherrone Moore spent the last few seasons working with the tight ends. The situation for them isn’t quite as rough as it is for the defensive side, but there’s work to do.
The coaching staff is playing the quarterback situation like it has to for the modern age. The job is still technically open for fall camp, knowing that the moment the starter is announced between JJ McCarthy and Cade McNamara, the transfer portal wolves will pounce on the No. 2 guy.
McCarthy has the bigger upside – but he didn’t get a shot this spring with a shoulder problem – McNamara is the reliable option who gets the job done, and throw in the wild cards of spring star Davis Warren and former Texas Tech starter Alan Bowman somewhere in the backup equation. There’s no bad call here – they can all play.
The health of WR Ronnie Bell – who missed most of last year with a knee injury – is a huge deal, but he’s expected to be back along with leading receiver Cornelius Johnson and excellent pass catching TE Erick All. Throw in the explosion of Andrew Anthony and all the other good parts returning, and this is a terrific group of receivers if Bell is back to form.
The offensive line will be fine with a little bit of time. The addition of Olusegun Oluwatimi from Virginia at center settles the front five helped by All-Big Ten guard Zak Zinter is back along with left tackle Ryan Hayes.
20-touchdown back Hassan Haskins is done, but Blake Corum is back after running for 952 yards and 11 scores. He’s the main man, and Donovan Edwards will get more work after finishing third on the team with 174 yards and three scores.
Michigan Wolverines Preview 2022: Defense
It’s not like the Vanderbilt defense set the world on fire last year, but … defensive coordinator Jesse Minter is taking over the same gig with the Wolverines. He’s a rising star who spent years with the Baltimore Ravens, and now he has to reboot the defense that allowed 330 yards just 17 points per game.
Even with Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, the overall pass rush was just okay. Those two were brilliant, but they accounted for 25 of the team’s 34 sacks. It’s going to be a work in progress to replacing their lost production, starting with end Taylor Upshaw, the leading returning sacker with 2.5 last year.
The interior is a bit easier. The combination of 326-pound all-star Mazi Smith and 275-pound junior Kris Jenkins should be solid.
Several of the top tacklers are gone, but Junior Colson is in the middle at one linebacker job after finishing fourth on the team with 61 stops, and Nikhai Hill-Green will work on the outside coming off a 50-stop season.
The secondary might be missing some big parts, but it’ll be more than fine – there are plenty of options to play around with starting with all-Big Ten caliber DJ Turner and veteran safety RJ Moten.
Michigan Preview | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan Top 10 Players | Michigan Schedule & Analysis
Michigan Wolverines: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats NEXT
Michigan Wolverines: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats
Michigan Wolverines: Key To The 2022 Offense
Keep the ground game pounding.
There was a moment at the end of a brutal 2020 season when all of a sudden something snapped. The offense played like it was tired of getting shoved around.
The running game went bye-bye after a big start, and even though the season finale against Penn State was a loss, it was like a tone was set thanks to a big day from the offensive line.
Last year the ground game rocked from the start averaging over seven yards per carry with over 1,100 yards and 15 touchdowns in the first three games. The Rutgers D stepped up, and the dominant Wisconsin defense held firm, but the offense was able to pick it back up again over the second half of the season.
New OC, some new O linemen, and a new starting tailback – the offense and the team have to keep the same blast away attitude.
Michigan Wolverines: Key To The 2022 Defense
Take the ball away a bit more.
The pass rush stats don’t quite tell the whole story. Michigan was ninth in the Big Ten in tackles for loss in the middle of the national pack in sacks, but obviously Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo got the job done. There will be pressure again, and not it all has to lead to a few more takeaways.
There was a steady stream of big plays, but the Wisconsin win was the only time the D came up with more than two takeaways, and it failed to generate multiple turnovers in any of the last six games. There weren’t any fumble recoveries over the last four.
That all might seem a tad nitpicky, but there can’t be a regression to 2020 when the defense managed just three takeaways in six games.
Michigan Wolverines: Key Player To The 2022 Season
DE Taylor Upshaw, Sr.
The Wolverines are going to have to Moneyball this.
The program is good enough to always find new great pass rushers, but you don’t just replace Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo in a snap. It’s going to take a rotation of options and several players to try generating the same pressure and same big plays.
No one’s thinking the 6-4, 262-pound Upshaw will be Hutchinson, but he’s a good veteran who has turn it loose and play at an All-Big Ten level – he’s the leading returning sacker with 2.5 last year and three quarterback hurries – until everyone else gets comfortable.
Michigan Wolverines: Key Transfer
C Olusegun Oluwatimi, Sr.
Michigan isn’t doing much in the transfer portal, but it got a good one in the 6-3, 310-pound Oluwatimi to take over in the middle of the line.
He started his career at Air Force, moved to Virginia, and he turned into an All-America-caliber blocker who’ll step right in and be one of the Big Ten’s best for the ground game.
Michigan Key Game To The 2022 Season
Michigan State, Oct. 29
Of course the Ohio State game matters more than anything each and every year, but …
Jim Harbaugh is now 0-2 against Mel Tucker and 3-4 against Michigan State.
There’s a week off to get ready for the date this year, it’s at home, and with a road game in Columbus to close things out – and with a date at Iowa early on – the pressure to win this is enormous.
Michigan Wolverines: 2021 Fun Stats
– 3rd Quarter Scoring: Michigan 140 – Opponents 55
– Sacks: Michigan 34 for 211 yards – Opponents 14 for 111 yards
– TDs Scored: Michigan 62 – Opponents 28
Michigan Preview | Offense, Defense Breakdown
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan Top 10 Players
Michigan Schedule & Analysis
Michigan Wolverines Season Prediction, What Will Happen NEXT
Michigan Wolverines Season Prediction, What Will Happen
No, there might not be the pressure of the past few years when Jim Harbaugh needed several votes of confidence and the world didn’t believe he could ever beat Ohio State, but there’s more than enough talent returning, and the schedule is more than manageable enough, to have another massive season.
It might take a wee bit to get the star power on the defensive line back and rolling, and depth is a slight issue in some spots, but the quarterback situation is great, the skill parts are fine, and the offensive line should set a tone right away with another good starting five.
Throw in a good kicking game, and as long as there’s still the same fight and – to get schmaltzy – hunger there overall, this should be a double-digit win season with the wins piling up early.
Set The Michigan Wolverines Regular Season Win Total At … 9.5
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Start with an assumed loss at Ohio State, and assume there’s another loss in there somewhere either at Iowa, at home against Penn State, or – shudder – against Michigan State.
Can Michigan win all the games it’ll be favored in?
There’s no Wisconsin to deal with, missing Minnesota and Purdue matters, and the non-conference slate – Colorado State, Hawaii, UConn – is squishy soft. However, Maryland will be dangerous, Nebraska will be better, and …
There’s no excuse to not get to ten wins with this slate considering all the big home games and just four away dates.
It’s asking for too much for a repeat of 2021, but yeah, Michigan should be going into the Ohio State game at 10-1 with at least a shot to get back to the Big Ten Championship.
Michigan Preview
Offense, Defense Breakdown
Keys To The Season | Michigan Top 10 Players
Michigan Schedule & Analysis
