Michigan football schedule 2020: Predicting every Michigan Wolverines game

The Michigan football schedule gets a lot tougher in October.

Oct. 3 vs Penn State 

As it is every year now, this is a huge game for the Wolverines. A loss here really dampens any hope of the game against Ohio State meaning anything to their Big Ten title hopes. It is definitely an interesting matchup as while the Nittany Lions do return starting quarterback Sean Clifford, their receiving core really took a hit. Michigan’s ball control normally doesn’t work against James Franklin’s high flying offense but it might just this season. Add to all of it an inexperienced Penn State defense that loses 9-of-10 of their top tacklers. I just don’t think that Penn State has enough to capitalize on a young Michigan offensive line and pull off an early-season win inside the Big House.

Oct. 10 at Michigan State 

Normally this would be a frightening game going up against Michigan State in East Lansing following two tough matchups against Penn State and Wisconsin. But after two straight 7-6 years, it is becoming less and less daunting to see the Spartans on your schedule. That being said this is a rivalry game but having gone against much better defenses the last two weeks, McCaffrey should settle in pretty quickly against a less than impressive Spartan secondary. This one seems pretty obvious, Wolverines win big.

Oct. 17 at Minnesota

Michigan really drew the short end of the stick in their Big Ten West crossover games this year. Minnesota and Wisconsin should be the favorites heading into the season and Michigan has to deal with them both. This will be the first time that the Wolverines will be tested in the secondary since their season opener against Washington, but the Gophers have much more talent on the outside. Rashod Bateman is a game-changer at wide receiver, and Tanner Morgan isn’t talked about enough as one of the better quarterbacks in the country. Michigan’s run-heavy offense won’t be able to keep up on the road.

Oct. 24 vs Purdue

Purdue might have the most electric player in the country in Rondale Moore back from injury, but that doesn’t disguise the fact that they went 4-8 last season. The rest of the ream is just not all that intriguing and unless some other guys step up, it’s hard to see Purdue pulling off this upset inside the Big House. Especially after Michigan suffered a gut-wrenching loss to Minnesota the week prior. Moore will be enough to keep the Boilermakers in the game, but McCaffrey and the Wolverines will be able to do enough through the air to thwart the upset.