Tale of the tape: Sizing up Michigan football vs. UNLV

The Michigan Wolverines will look to move to 2-0 on the season with the UNLV Rebels coming to town for a 3:30 p.m. ET kick on CBS. Michigan is a hefty favorite once again with books installing a 37.5-point line for the home team.

That said, UNLV could provide another unique set of challenges for a Michigan team that will be without head coach Jim Harbaugh for the second of a three-game suspension. Safeties coach/special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh will handle the first half, while running backs coach Mike Hart will handle the second half.

Both men will be tasked with taking down an offense that runs a lot of tempo and will require discipline to stop, while the defense has another odd look helmed by head coach Barry Odom. There are still plenty of vast advantages on the field for a Michigan team that has plenty to clean up coming off of a season-opening 30-3 win over ECU.

Here, we’ve set the stage for each aspect of the matchup between the Wolverines and Rebels with a nod in each category for who has the advantage.

Michigan offense vs. UNLV defense

Michigan Offense (Week 1)UNLV Defense (Week 1)Scoring30 points14 pointsRushing122 yards179 yardsPassing280 yards230 yardsTotal402 yards409 yards

Passing Game
Junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy played one of the most impressive games of his career in the opener vs. ECU, throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns on 26-for-30 passing attempts. His 87% completion rate is the highest in Michigan history on 30 or more passing attempts. Even against a porous East Carolina secondary, he was zipping the ball into tight areas and putting it right where it needed to be.

And there’s plenty of reason to think that should continue against UNLV. The Rebels allowed 230 passing yards on 7.9 yards per attempt to FCS Bryant in a 44-14 win. That’s right around where their league average was last season at 225.8 yards per game, which was 69th in FBS. UNLV boasts some solid experience in the secondary, led by cornerback Cameron Oliver. All of their projected starters on the back-end measure at 6-0 or taller, except for nickel Jerrae Wallace.

But those guys are going to have to hold up in coverage. Odom’s 3-3-5/3-2-6 defense lends itself to a ton of defensive backs on the field, but if the pass rush is not getting home, McCarthy and the Wolverines should pick them apart.

Between senior Roman Wilson, graduate Cornelius Johnson, sophomore tight end Colston Loveland and a capable group of pass-catching running backs, there are mismatches all over the field to find and exploit for the second week in a row. Find your guy and march down the field.

Odom has been outspoken about selling out to stop the run. For the second week in a row, Michigan has to its opponent pay dearly for that.

Run Game
Michigan was held to 122 yards on the ground and a measly 3.9 yards per carry in last week’s opener, which was unexpected but perhaps should not have been. This team is breaking in a new offensive line, ECU was ready for the run and the backs were shaking off some rust. Thankfully, Michigan appears to be building an offense that can take advantage of whatever its opponent chooses not to focus on.

Getting senior back Blake Corum and junior Donovan Edwards back on track is paramount because when push comes to shove we think that’s the heartbeat of this offense. The opportunity to do that will be there this week.

We already spoke about Odom’s odd front defense, and it is the third-straight opponent the Wolverine offensive line sees a unique look defensively. Last season, UNLV allowed 157.6 yards per game on the ground, which ranked 76th in the country. But Bryant found a way to rack up 202 rush yards on 39 attempts (5.2 yards per carry), adjusted for a -23-yard run in the scorebook attributed to Bryant’s kicker. The Rebels have a severe lack of athleticism up front, and Michigan should have no problem attacking the edges if the offensive line gets to where it needs to go. But the back-end is fast, and they will be quick to torpedo to the line of scrimmage in hopes of slowing things down.

This should be a get-right game for the rushing attack, not that anything was wrong with it in the first place. Look for video game numbers from both Michigan starting tailbacks this week.

Advantage: Michigan

U-M defense vs. UNLV offense

Michigan Defense (Week 1)UNLV Offense (Week 1)Scoring3 points44 pointsRushing102 yards268 yardsPassing132 yards126 yardsTotal234 yards394 yards

Passing Game
Rebels offensive coordinator Brennan Marion literally wrote a book about the “go-go” offense that Michigan will see on Saturday. The system is built around putting two running backs on one side of the quarterback and moving the ball downhill as quickly as possible with tempo and no-huddle tendencies while spreading out the wide receivers.

UNLV wants to create havoc offensively, catch you off guard, pop your defense for big plays and rush back to the line of scrimmage to do it all again. The bad news is that the passing game did not show much in the win over Bryant with starter Doug Brumfield throwing for 86 yards on 11-of-16 at 4.8 yards per attempt. He has a huge arm but overthrows his receivers. He is a big play waiting to happen and Michigan is on high alert for what he could bring to the table.

A familiar face returns to the Big House on Saturday in former MSU wide receiver Ricky White, who had eight catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Michigan during the COVID season in 2020. He was an all-conference performer last season with 51 catches for 619 yards and four touchdowns and will get plenty of downfield targets against the Wolverines. Not many guys are back from the 2020 squad on the back end of the defense, but this is a bit of a revenge game for that group.

Jacob De Jesus had four catches for 50 yards last week with a long reception of 29 yards, so he is someone else to keep an eye on. Whether Rod Moore and Will Johnson return remains to be seen, but Michigan’s secondary should be tested regardless. Last week’s game saw them play an offense that tried to get the ball out quickly to the short and intermediate areas. This week’s biggest key is not letting anyone get behind you.

Advantage: Michigan

Run Game
UNLV’s shot at making this a competitive game is a death-by-a-thousand papercuts approach and keeping the Michigan offense on the sideline. Last week against Bryant, the Rebels ran for 268 yards on 40 attempts (6.7 ypa). Brumfield ran seven times for 49 yards and a touchdown, while Vincent Davis Jr. ripped off a 69-yard score on the team’s first offensive snap of the game.

The Rebels are going to attempt to frustrate Michigan by keeping them on the field, and maybe with some fatigue on the defense they can find a way to pop a big play and keep themselves in the football game. The Wolverines might not be able to substitute and rotate as much as they like to, meaning the best recipe for taking care of business is to get off the field quickly.

UNLV’s “go-go” attack hinges on the run game moving the chains, keeping the defense on the field and catching them off guard with a shot over the top. Discipline will be needed for a defensive lien that will be tested for the second week in a row, albeit in different ways than what ECU did.

Advantage: Michigan

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