ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan finds itself 4-1 as it gets ready to heat west to play Washington.
The Wolverines found themselves in a similar situation one year ago, after dispatching a scrappy Mountain West team in Week 1 (sound familiar?), winning their Big Ten opener by the hair of their chin (that too?), and opening conference play with back-to-back wins.
But the wheels fell off with the trip out the Pacific Northwest, where Michigan fell behind early, 14-0, recovered to take a lead, only to be outscored by 13 points in the final quarter. The loss was the first of four in a stretch of five games, with poor quarterback play and a difficult schedule (Michigan played three ranked opponents, and three road games) to blame.
Sherrone Moore’s team hopes to avoid the slow start by altering its travel plans to Los Angeles this week.
“It’s this year — not last year,” Moore said Monday ahead of Saturday’s game at USC (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC). “Last year, there was a lot of lessons that we learned from. And I think the first one — like we’re doing here — the first thing is just traveling on Thursday.”
Michigan (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) has a clear upgrade at quarterback this year in freshman Bryce Underwood, whose production through five games speaks for itself: 1,003 passing yards, 181 yards rushing, and six total touchdowns. He’s only accounted for two turnovers, negating one of the biggest issues last year for Michigan.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines have gotten some help from its receivers, namely Donaven McCulley, whose 309 yards has already exceeded any of Michigan’s wideouts a season ago.
Still, questions linger about the rest of the receivers (drops continue to be an issue) and a young, work-in-progress offensive line.
“This is a different team with a different mindset and different focus,” Moore said. “We understand we’re in the second quarter of the season, and well we got to do is take care of that today. We can’t even worry about the game yet; we’ve got to worry about what today brings and how we’re going to get better.”
After USC, Michigan is set to host Washington next Saturday, Oct. 18, and there’s a good chance Jedd Fisch’s Huskies come in with a 5-1 record. The travel edge will reside with the Wolverines this time around, but there’s no saying what Michigan’s psyche would be after a second loss.
The rest of Michigan’s schedule is much more favorable than last year, with games at Michigan State, Northwestern (Wrigley Field) and Maryland, while hosting Purdue and the regular-season finale against Ohio State. At least three of those games appear winnable on paper.
Every tangible goal for the Wolverines this year remains in play, but a loss Saturday would deal a major blow to those hopes of playing for a Big Ten title and reaching the playoff. It may not be the end-all, be-all, but Michigan’s backs would be against the wall with half a season to go.
“I don’t think — this team is completely different than what it was last year,” tight end Marlin Klein said. “The record doesn’t really matter; the players that are in this facility, the staff that’s here, the mindset that we have, we have completely different goals.
“There is no getting by; we want to win, we want to win now. We want to win a championship now.”
Klein, who was on that Michigan team a season ago, praised USC, called the Trojans “a team that’s in the way” and foreshadowed the magnitude of Saturday’s game in the sold-out Coliseum.
“It will be a great test for us and them,” Klein said. “It will be a playoff game, for sure.”