3 reasons Michigan football can win the Big Ten again

Most people are picking Ohio State or Oregon to win the Big Ten championship and that’s understandable. Michigan football has a new head coach, a new quarterback, and a brutal schedule.

The Wolverines play arguably four of the most difficult teams in the Big Ten, not including themselves this season, in Oregon, Ohio State, USC, and Washington.

Michigan football probably needs to go 3-1 against those teams to reach the Big Ten championship game. The games at Washington and Ohio State are on the road, but truthfully, the Wolverines don’t need to win in Columbus to win the Big Ten championship.

They just have to make it to Indy and potentially beat Oregon or Ohio State there. Some might think it sounds far-fetched but here are three reasons why Michigan is capable of another Big Ten championship.

Elite in the run game

Michigan football is projected to have one of the best run defenses in college football, anchored by its elite pair of defensive tackles. The front seven is loaded. Maybe there isn’t as much depth as last season, but there’s enough and the Wolverines should be able to make teams one-dimensional.

That makes life much easier for the defense. Michigan will have a stellar secondary too. But being able to stop the run and pound the rock, as the Wolverines should be able to do with Donovan Edwards and an offensive line that should be as good as any in the Big Ten, is a huge part of winning in the Big Ten.

There’s a reason the team that rushes for more yards usually wins between Michigan and Ohio State and the Wolverines will win that battle against almost every team they face this season.

The right defensive coordinator

Landing Wink Martindale was huge. Michigan football doesn’t want to go back to the Don Brown days and back then, it was obvious his defense was a problem.

It failed in every single big game — it wasn’t just Ohio State. I said the Wolverines needed to get an NFL-style defensive coordinator. They did that with Mike MacDonald and Jesse Minter. Sherrone Moore also did it with Wink Martindale.

Confusing college quarterbacks is much easier than NFL quarterbacks and really, against a team like Ohio State, pressuring and confusing the quarterback is the name of the game. Michigan doesn’t have to sell out to stop the run because its defensive line is so stout. That’s not going to change.

So Wink can get creative. That doesn’t necessarily mean sending the house. It means keeping the quarterback off balance. He’ll be able to do that and the Michigan football defense will keep playing at an elite level.

I’m excited to see what it looks like, but I’m confident Michigan will be in the top-10 in scoring defense once again, which will give them a good chance to contend and possibly win another Big Ten title.

Offensive playmakers

It seems as though Michigan football doesn’t have any playmakers on offense but that’s just not true. Donovan Edwards is one of the most dynamic running backs in the country.

I don’t care what his career numbers say. He is at his best in the biggest games and shined in 2022 when he wasn’t splitting carries after the Blake Corum.

Edwards is also an elite receiver and a Day 2 talent in my book. Colston Loveland is a projected first-round pick at tight end. Michigan needs a quarterback to emerge, but as long as they can get him the ball — and a tight end is a quarterback’s best friend — the offense should be fine. That doesn’t even include guys like Kalel Mullings, Semaj Morgan, Tyler Morris, and Fred Moore.

As long as ball security transfers over from last season and previous title runs, Michigan football will have a strong chance of repeating once again.

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