Michigan football 2022 season prediction, preview, awards, bowl game

Here is to Jim Harbaugh powering through the awkwardness with his Michigan football team.

After winning the Big Ten and getting into a little bit of a Minnesota Vikings tryst on National Signing Day with his guy Kwesi, Jim Harbaugh is back leading his Michigan football team, and no! It is NOT awkward!

It’s not like he wrecked his hog while calling the Hogs and sported a thick neck brace at a press conference, but let’s hope this Wolverine sequel is just as good. Harbaugh may no longer have his Hugh Jackman Aidan Hutchinson clawing through Big Ten line meat on the reg, but no doubt. This may not be a one-off in Ann Arbor, as Harbaugh is elite amid adversity and nothing is awkward!

Never nervous at No. 6 on FanSided’s Preseason Top 50 Rankings, the Michigan Wolverines!

Michigan football 2021 season in review

After not winning a single game at home during the COVID-shortened season, Harbaugh took a massive pay cut to keep on keeping on at his alma mater’s program towards another year of mediocrity … or so we thought. The Wolverines mauled a team Pitt couldn’t beat, a team Jimmy Lake couldn’t recruit at and another team called the Huskies to be the champions of the Huskies!

At 3-0, Michigan nearly lost to Rutgers at home, but to the victors went the spoils. The Wolverines then got to bowl eligibility as quickly as humanly possible by jumping around on Wisconsin and serving up Nebraska like the lathered-up Cinnabon they have been during the Scott Frost-ing era. Despite getting to a 7-0 win over a bad Northwestern team, it was Sparta in East Lansing…

Tuck was coming alright, a more frightening man than Omar in the Baltimorean projects decades prior. But you know what the really cool part in all this is? Michigan would not lose another game for the rest of the season after that. They were the Hoosier’s daddy and they were over Penn State. After beating Tua’s lil bro, it was all about The Game. Press play for Mr. Brightside and let’s party!

After turning jealous State into the sea, destiny was calling thee, as the Michigan faithful opened up its eager eyes to see something it had never experienced before: Indianapolis. Meeting them there in the place where Andrew Luck quit and got booed off the stage like Chad Kroeger at a Nickelback concert were Kirk Dawg’s, powered by John Deere tractors, line meat and nepotism.

Iowa did about as well as Big E’s neck did during Friday Night Smackdahn!, as Michigan did the impossible, the improbable for any college football blue-blood: The Wolverines made the freaking College Football Playoff, baby! Unfortunately, Kirby Smart’s absolute … DAWGS! turned Michigan into an orange peel in the Orange Bowl. At least Cade McNamara looked cool walking into battle…

Regardless, Michigan finally turned the corner as a program under Coach Harbaugh in year seven.

Previewing Michigan offense for 2022 season

Returning starters (8): Cade McNamara (QB), Blake Corum (RB), Cornelius Johnson (WR), Roman Wilson (WR), Erick All (TE), Ryan Hayes (LT), Trevor Keegan (LG), Zak Zinter (RG)
Newcomer: Olusegun Oluwatimi (C)
Impact player: Blake Corum (RB)

Michigan has a legitimate shot at winning the Big Ten again because of the amount of talent the Wolverines return on offense. They have right around eight returning starters, or guys who have played a bunch for them already. McNamara will presumably keep the seat warm under center before J.J. McCarthy allegedly overtakes him. Blake Corum will be getting a ton of run this season.

Given how strong the Wolverines were a year ago, they did not feel the need to dip into the transfer portal all that much. However, they did add a former ACC star in center Olusegun Oluwatimi from Virginia. With Bronco Mendenhall abruptly retiring and Tony Elliott taking over in Charlottesville, Oluwatimi looks to raise his profile a bit when it comes to the 2023 NFL Draft.

Though much of the focus will be on the quarterback position, Corum will be the straw that stirs the drink for the Michigan offense. Harbaugh loves to run the football, and Corum is damn good at that. Although Hassan Haskins is now playing professionally, look for the Wolverines ground game to not skip a beat with Corum taking over and Donovan Edwards serving as the change-of-pace.

Previewing Michigan defense for 2022 season

Returning starters (5): Mazi Smith (NT), Junior Colson (LB), Nikhai Hill-Green (LB), DJ Turner (CB), Gemon Green (CB)
Impact player: Mazi Smith (NT)

Where Michigan will have its work cut out for it is offsetting the big losses they suffered off last season’s defense that led them to the playoff. While Mazi Smith is expected to do big things in the trenches, Michigan has to overcome losing Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Christopher Hinton and Daxton Hill to the NFL. The Wolverines were deep defensively last year, but not so much this fall.

Although Michigan does not have many newcomers of note on the defensive side of the ball, all eyes will be on their emerging star nose tackle Smith. If he can play up to his lofty expectations, the Wolverines could see another one of their defensive stars go in the first round like Hutchinson and Hill did a year ago. This guy is tougher than a $2 steak, man. Smith is about to run train, man!

Michigan football players awards watch for 2022 season

Eight Michigan football players have landed on awards watch lists for the 2022 college season.

Blake Corum, Doak Walker, Maxwell, Walter Camp, Paul Hornung, Wuerffel

Corum is up for nearly all of the awards this season. Not only is he in the mix for the Doak Walker and the Maxwell, he is on the watch lists for the Walter Camp, the Paul Hornung and the Wuerffel.

Erick All, Mackey

The Wolverines have a pair of tight ends listed on the preseason watch list for the Mackey. Erick All is the starting tight end for Michigan, so one would think he has the better shot of winning it.

Luke Schoonmaker, Mackey

He may be behind All on the depth chart, but Luke Schoonmaker has the name to potentially win the Mackey, umkay? If any player was going to win the award based on his surname, he’s the guy!

Olusegun Oluwatimi, Outland, Rimington

Look for Oluwatimi to be a freaking wrecking ball anchoring the Michigan offensive line. Not only is the former Virginia star up for the Outland, he is a serious contender to win the Rimington as well.

Zak Zinter, Outland

Joining his new Michigan teammate Oluwatimi on the Outland Trophy preseason awards watch list is interior lineman Zak Zinter. With two Z’s in his name, he is gonna put defensive linemen to sleep.

Mazi Smith, Bednarik

As expected, Smith appears on the preseason awards watch list for the Bednarik. Given that he is the biggest name returning on this Michigan defense, he could win it if Michigan wins the Big Ten.

Jake Moody, Groza

The Wolverines have a pair of specialists on preseason awards watch lists. The first guy is Jake Moody, who is up for the Groza. While he may be moody if he doesn’t win it, that is a Jake problem.

Brad Robbins, Ray Guy

Here is a guy up for the Ray Guy in Michigan punter Brad Robbins. With the power of a Moody kicker, Michigan has a chance to win the crucial third phase more often than not for Coach Harbaugh.

Michigan football biggest game on 2022 schedule

Looking at Michigan’s 2022 regular-season schedule, it is hard to see them being worse than a 10-2 football team. If they fall to Iowa at Kinnick, then maybe 9-3. While most Wolverines fans would say The Game is the biggest game on the schedule, hold your horses before looking at the date in the Horshehoe. Tuck is coming, and you cannot lose to Sparty again after last year’s defeat.

Michigan State is really trying to make it a three-team division by outpacing Penn State considerably. While Harbaugh’s issues with Ohio State historically are well-documented, he has messed up more than a few times vs. the Spartans. With the way Tucker is recruiting entering his third season at the helm, Michigan cannot afford to lose any momentum in-state to little brother.

If Michigan beats Michigan State in Ann Arbor, it has a shot of being 11-0 during Thanksgiving.

Michigan football best-case scenario

What if I told you Michigan could get back to the College Football Playoff, only this time as an undefeated Big Ten champion? Although their non-conference schedule is a joke (Colorado State, UConn, Hawaii), Michigan benefits from having two top-15 teams in-division in Michigan State and Ohio State, as well as two fringe top-25 teams also on the schedule in Iowa and Penn State.

The Wolverines should be 4-0 with its first conference win over Maryland before facing Iowa at Kinnick. Odds are, the Hawkeyes will be undefeated too, as this game is too significant for Big Noon Kickoff to pass up. After beating listless Indiana in Bloomington and handling a Penn State team the AP voters do not think highly of at all, Michigan could be 7-0 heading into its bye week.

Enter the home date vs. Sparty. After a win over Tuck and taking care of business vs. Rutgers in their SHI Stadium, it will be a bunch of corn and the cheapest bucket of meat in all of Illinois-ya after husking Nebraska and fighting with the Illini. It all comes down to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the Horseshoe for all the marbles. Against all odds, Michigan wins in Columbus.

As Harbaugh douses himself with milk like he won the Indianapolis 500, Michigan returns to Indianapolis to face Paul Chryst’s no-good stinkin’ Wisconsin Badgers. Since West never beats East, Michigan returns to the College Football Playoff as a top-two seed. Unfortunately, they will draw whoever doesn’t win the SEC between Alabama and Georgia in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31.

Still, a best-case scenario for Michigan football sees the Wolverines go 12-0 as Big Ten champs.

Michigan football worst-case scenario

Because Harbaugh operates as if he has never had an awkward moment in his life, it is hard to see it going completely off the rails in Ann Arbor Rich Rod or Brady Hoke style this fall. What if I told you Harbaugh’s team was full of a bunch of Sam Howells, young men with the palates of petulant children, consuming the tenders of many nervous birds like they are eating at a chain restaurant?

With a look of disgust and a big swig of 2-percent out of a quart carton, Harbaugh semi-wipes his newfound milk mustache off on his sleeve and prepares for the nonsense akin to The McPoyle-Ponderosa Wedding. Bath salts and dead teeth be damned, they will write books about the season that wasn’t for Michigan football. There’s hitting the fan, and then there’s whatever this is.

Michigan still gets to 3-0, and probably 4-0, because let’s be real. Colorado State, Hawaii, UConn and Maryland are not beating the Wolverines in the Big House. However, things start to turn for the worse vs. Iowa after the Kinnick Wave. Kirk’s Dawgs take the tractor another round on this reloading Michigan defense. After an Indiana win, Sean Clifford then plays the game of his life.

With a second loss on the year in Big Ten play, Tuck coming after the bye week to make it three in a row. Between Rutgers, Nebraska and Illinois, either Greg Schiano, Scott Frost or Bret Bielema gets a statement win, while Michigan suffers its fourth Big Ten loss. With The Game looking more and more like a death sentence, the Wolverines will lose themselves in the moment, but won’t own it.

At 7-5, people want to run Harbaugh out of town faster than Lions fans wanted to stop the slob that predated Dan Campbell, man. After an internal debate between athletic department and boosters that screams exceptionally Auburn, Harbaugh opts to resign to a life of dairy farming before either Frank Reich gets axed or Matt Eberflus goes one-and-done. In comes Matt Rhule…

This team is probably not going 7-5, but spoiled milk is best served being poured down the drain.

Michigan football 2022 season prediction

After abandoning his family like a bad dad would do for a pack of Camels, Harbaugh returned from the Minneapolis grocery store with a crate full of 2-percent and a noticeable hickey on his neck. It might as well have been Pamela Anderson’s lips inked onto the side of his neck, Tommy Lee style, but Harbaugh was on his way home sweet home after going to the Mall of America (wink, wink)…

Talking out the side of his neck, Michigan powers through the awkwardness like the LSU marching band cranking a few bars of “Neck”, knowing a fine from Commissioner Greg Sankey is coming (STTDB, tbh). Michigan treats the non-conference slate like any team in the NFL not named John Harbaugh’s would in the preseason. Maryland, Iowa, Indiana, whatever. All Michigan wins, man.

The Wolverines show everybody and their brother how overpaid James Franklin is in Happy Valley, as Michigan improves to 7-0 and LaVar Arrington is furious. A cliche of epic proportions has been formulated at this time in the Michigan locker room by the players and coaching staff. It comes to the forefront on Big Noon Kickoff ahead of the Michigan State meltdown for the Tuck’s Spartans.

8-0 quickly becomes 11-0 because Rutgers, Nebraska and Illinois are who we thought there were, which is Rutgers, Nebraska and Illinois. At 11-0, Michigan faces either an undefeated Ohio State team or a one-loss Buckeyes squad, whose regular-season schedule is way harder than the Wolverines. Unfortunately, Ryan Day has his day in the sun, as C.J. Stroud secure the Heisman.

At 11-1, Michigan is praying to any god that will listen about how this team deserves to make the College Football Playoff. Sadly, Ohio State clobbers Wisconsin in Indianapolis and both Alabama and Georgia were undefeated heading into Atlanta. Between Utah, Clemson and the deserving Big 12 champion, Michigan is the third team out in the final College Football Playoff Rankings at No. 7.

Warde Manuel regrets having scheduled Colorado State, Hawaii and UConn in the non-conference.

Michigan football 2022 bowl game prediction

Because Ohio State is going to the playoff, this means the second-best team in the Big Ten is going to the Rose Bowl. Waiting for them in Pasadena will be Kyle Whittingham’s Utah Utes as the repeat Pac-12 champion. This will be one of the better postseason games of the holiday season, but Cameron “Black Smoke” Rising will rock harder than the four boys from nearby Frankenmuth.

Up next: No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies

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Michigan football 2022 season prediction, preview, awards, 2022 bowl game

By John Buhler | Aug 17, 2022