3
TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com
Colorado at
Michigan
Matchup:
Colorado 2-0;
Michigan 2-0
When:
Saturday
3:30 P.M.
Where:
Michigan
Stadium
TV/Radio:
BTN
Michigan wraps up non-league
schedule at home vs. Colorado
By MAX BULTMAN
Managing Sports Editor
And now, a test.
The No. 4 Michigan football
team (2-0) steamrolled its first
two
opponents
by a combined
107
points.
It
left
no
doubt
in
Michigan
Stadium
either
time as to which
was the better
team.
Saturday, the
Wolverines host
a Colorado team
that
has
also
clobbered its first
two
opponents.
The
Buffaloes’
combined
margin
of
victory
through two games is 86, and
they have yet to allow more than a
touchdown in a single game.
While those numbers are against
inferior
competition,
Colorado
(2-0) should be the toughest
challenge Michigan has faced thus
far. Whereas Central Florida did its
damage on the ground against the
Wolverines, secondary coach Mike
Zordich is bracing for the Buffaloes
to attack through the air.
“This’ll definitely be more of a
challenge than the first two games,”
he said Wednesday. “No disrespect,
but it is what it is. They’re better
receivers, and the quarterback is
a much better quarterback. He’s a
guy that actually has time to throw,
and he’s got three or four good guys
to throw to.”
Five-foot-eleven
receiver
Shay Fields is Colorado’s leading
receiver so far, hauling in five
catches for 157 yards, but the group
is deep. Devin Ross has caught the
most passes, 11, for 124 yards and
a pair of scores, and junior Bryce
Bobo is off to a strong start as well.
Michigan has given up a total
of 207 passing yards through two
games, and Colorado seems poised
to match that total — at least — if it
has its way.
The Wolverines will likely still
be playing without all-American
cornerback Jourdan Lewis, leaving
senior
cornerback
Channing
Stribling and fifth-year senior
Jeremy Clark to hold Colorado
in check. They have performed
admirably so far, but after Stribling
and senior safety Delano Hill each
returned an interception for a
touchdown against Hawaii, the
Knights didn’t really attack the
Wolverines through the air.
Colorado
quarterback
Sefo
Liufau
presents
a
legitimate
threat to that end, averaging 10.4
yards per attempt this season.
Complementing that are his 6.0
yards per carry, which makes
Liufau the type of threat Michigan
was vulnerable to last week —
the Wolverines allowed UCF to
repeatedly break contain and rack
up 275 rushing yards.
On the flip side, Michigan’s rush
attack managed just 119 yards. That
gave the Wolverines plenty to focus
on in their week.
“I’m very excited as a coach, that
you can win a game 51-14 and then
you still have things to go in and
coach and feel like you can improve
your play on,” Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh said Monday. “There’s
probably no better feeling as a coach
than to start the week that way. And
it makes me very optimistic that
there’s ways that we can improve,
there’s things that we can fix.”
Against the Buffaloes, Michigan
will once again rely on its stout
defensive line to lead the way. Fifth-
year senior defensive tackle Ryan
Glasgow is off to another strong
start in the middle, and freshman
defensive end Rashan Gary made
his first major mark with a sack
last week. Add in fifth-year senior
defensive end Chris Wormley
and
redshirt
junior
defensive
tackle Maurice Hurst, and the
Wolverines’ line should remain
sturdy despite being banged up.
On the other side of the ball,
the Wolverines boast one of the
nation’s top scoring offenses to
go against a Colorado defense
that hasn’t seen anything close to
Michigan’s talent.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback
Wilton Speight has tossed seven
touchdowns to date, and with fifth-
year senior receivers Amara Darboh
and Jehu Chesson to go with senior
tight end Jake Butt, Michigan’s
offensive weapons seem capable of
overwhelming Colorado.
And that’s the crux of Saturday’s
game. Colorado should be the best
opponent the Wolverines have
faced, and not by a small margin.
But against Michigan’s talent,
even a close game would count as
something of an upset.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow (top) anchors Michigan’s defense
against Colorado, while senior tight end Jake Butt (bottom) powers the offense.
GRANT HARDY/Daily