The no. 7 Michigan Wolverines will look to start out the 2019 season with a win when they face the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. The game is scheduled for 7:30 EST on Saturday, August 31, at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Fans can watch the game on the Big Ten Network.
Oddsmakers list the Wolverines as 33.5-point favorites with an over/under of 54 points. Click here for a full list of this week’s college football betting odds and previews.
Michigan fans have been a little underwhelmed by Jim Harbaugh’s four seasons as the head coach of his alma mater. On the bright side, he’s won 10 games in three of the four seasons, finishing as a top-15 team all three of those years. But he’s also gotten the reputation as a coach who can’t come through in big games.
Harbaugh and the Wolverines took a small step forward last year, earning a share of the Big Ten East division. However, they still lost the season finale to Ohio State in lopsided fashion, keeping them from reaching the Big Ten Championship Game. Michigan was also blown out by Florida in the Peach Bowl, leaving with Harbaugh and the team a lot to prove heading into 2019.
Meanwhile, the 2018 season was a successful one for Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders won the Conference-USA East division, reaching the conference title game for the first time since joining the league in 2013. Despite losing the conference championship game and their bowl game, Middle Tennessee still finished with a respectable 8-6 season.
Rather quietly, head coach Rick Stockstill has turned Middle Tennessee into one of the most consistent mid-majors in the country. Stockstill is entering his 14th season as head coach, taking the Blue Raiders to eight bowl games in the first 13 seasons, including five out of the last six years.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the schools. However, Middle Tennessee is no stranger to power conference teams. The Blue Raiders always challenge themselves out of conference, playing Vanderbilt, Georgia, Syracuse, and Minnesota over the past two seasons. They won’t be intimidated for a trip to The Big House in Ann Arbor.
Even if Middle Tennessee isn’t intimated by Michigan’s stadium, they may be overwhelmed by their talent. The Blue Raiders have some rebuilding to do after last season while Michigan is a top-10 team that will be eager to get off to a fast start this season. I’m not thrilled that the spread is over 30 points, but I’ll take my chances with the Wolverines being able to cover.
In past years, I would have been more skeptical of Michigan covering a spread of nearly five touchdowns. But I think the Wolverines will have a little more balance between offense and defense this season. New offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is going to run a no-huddle offense that spreads the field a little more than Michigan has done in the past. If nothing else, that will give Michigan more possessions, helping them to run up the score a little and beat the spread.
More importantly, this style of offense is a much better fit for quarterback Shea Patterson. It’s akin to the offense Patterson ran earlier in his career at Ole Miss when he posted video-game numbers against mediocre teams. Patterson never looked completely comfortably last season, but I expect that to change with the new offense. On top of that, the Wolverines return four starters on the offensive line and a ton of talent at wide receiver, putting Patterson in a prime position to succeed in 2019 right from the start.
Meanwhile, the Michigan offense will be facing a Middle Tennessee defense that lost five starters and a considerable amount of depth from last season. Specifically, the Blue Raiders have to replace both starting corners from last season. That could leave a lot of open space in the secondary for the Michigan receivers to run wild. Patterson has the arm strength to take shots deep, and I think the Wolverines will be aggressive in testing the Middle Tennessee corners.
On the other side of the ball, the Blue Raiders have to replace quarterback Brent Stockstill, who was a four-year starter and the coach’s son. Even with some capable skill players, Middle Tennessee will have an inexperienced quarterback running the show. Also, they’ve yet to fully sort out a three-way quarterback competition. To make matters worse, last year’s offensive line was inconsistent at best, keeping the Blue Raiders from establishing a consistent ground attack. That could be an issue for Middle Tennessee again this season. Those are serious problems for the Blue Raiders given all of the talent on the Michigan defense.
Michigan will surely win this game, but in terms of beating the spread, I think it’ll be a close call. All things considered, I think Patterson will feel right at home in the new offense and create some big plays down the field. That should allow the Wolverines to score enough points to cover, especially if the Michigan defense continues to play at the same level it has in recent years.