Michigan is 5-0 and climbing the ladder of the Associated Press rankings. Last week, the Wolverines — who were unranked to start the season — came in at No. 14 on the charts. Following Saturday’s blistering 38-17 win over Wisconsin at Camp Randall, their current rank is more than justified.

Mark it on your calendars, folks — Oct. 2 was the day that the Wolverines matured into a bona fide contender in the Big Ten.

There have been more than a handful of highlights for Jim Harbaugh, who is 5-0 for the first time since 2016. Following Saturday’s win, he said that this team was “different” from years past and that it didn’t “flinch” in the face of adversity.

The following players/factors have made the Wolverines’ engine hum through 5 weekends of football — and they’ll most certainly be catalysts as UM advances through the season, beginning next week at Nebraska, which just made minced meat of Northwestern, 56-7, in Lincoln this past weekend.

David Ojabo – Get out of his way

Leading UM with 7 tackles against Wisconsin, linebacker David Ojabo has become an invaluable asset for the defense. Ojabo’s ability to pressure quarterbacks and stop the run are reminiscent of former LB/DE Josh Uche, who was also extremely aggressive and athletic.

With 2.5 sacks against the Badgers, Ojabo clearly is developing into an ideal second-wave of force behind DE Aidan Hutchinson. With teams keying in on Hutchinson, Ojabo will serve as a clean-up man for Michigan’s defense, which is No. 16 in the nation, allowing 286.4 yards per game.

Cade McNamara – Game Manager, at your service

He’s not going to throw for 300 yards and 3 TDs every game, nor will he be a human highlight reel most weekends. However, QB Cade McNamara has done just about everything right through 5 games and remains the Wolverines’ steadiest option at the position.

He still hasn’t thrown a pick and he continues to complete about 60 percent of his passes.

Yeah, he’s a game manager, and it doesn’t necessarily take a superstar QB to serve as a dynamic leader and pave the way toward success. McNamara has been more than adequate for the Wolverines.

McNamara still has to touch up on accuracy, but he’s showing that he can thread the ball around the field. On Saturday, he finished with 5 consecutive completions. Earlier in the game, he made 4 in a row.

He might be near the bottom of Big Ten QBs, stat-wise, but he’s undoubtedly among the best game managers in the conference. Michigan wouldn’t be 5-0 without McNamara, who will continue to be the lead-man on offense.

Aidan Hutchinson – Best defensive player in America?

He was doubled-teamed on Saturday night but he still made a major impact. Hutchinson is absolutely one of the best DEs in college football, and he might even be the best defensive player in the country at the end of the season.

He’s been that good.

Stats won’t tell the entire story about Hutchinson, but game tape will show everything needed to know about one of the most exciting and dominant players to roll through Michigan within the past decade.

Big plays pay dividends – and UM has had plenty

Safety Daxton Hill’s interception and DL Christopher Hinton’s fumble recovery against Wisconsin were signs that Michigan can make things happen when needed. All good teams find extra ways to produce, and creating turnovers lead to those added bumps in confidence. Next thing on the list: defensive touchdown.

But until then, the Wolverines appear to be evolving into a more complete team — one capable of doing things in all phases of the game, including special teams. The Wolverines have a pair of elusive return men in RB Blake Corum and WR AJ Henning, and a good FG kicker in Jake Moody, who went 3-3 against the Badgers.

The Wolverines have 9 TDs of 50 yards or more, including special teams. There have been 87-yarders, 50-yarders, and everything in-between. Michigan can score on the doorstep of the end zone or burn up the field with a monster gain (run or pass), and that bodes well for any team looking to be a real contender. Scoring in multiple ways on offense always helps. The big plays make things a little easier and deflate opposing teams with the quickness of the strikes.

Rushing – Ground game, proper

Corum and Haskins haven’t stuffed the stats too much during the past couple of weeks, but they have cemented their statuses among the team: Corum is the quick jab guy, while Haskins delivers the body shots with a certain a power and elegance. This has been mentioned in previous articles, but it needs to be emphasized: Michigan has a 1-2 punch that rivals any RB tandem in the Big Ten.

Michigan averages 3.6 rushing touchdowns per game, and the Corum-Haskins duo has 13 touchdowns of 18 total rushing TDs — and they have more than half of a team total 25 scores.

In addition – Always more to mention

The Wolverines continue to see development out of WR Cornelius Johnson and WR Daylen Baldwin, not to mention WR Roman Wilson. Following the season-ending injury of Ronnie Bell, many wondered who would replace the star’s production. So far, UM has seen great things from the aforementioned trio of receivers.

Johnson has 3 TDs on the year, while Baldwin — a spark-plug at the position — has reeled in a pair of TDs, and both were long balls from freshman QB JJ McCarthy: a 56-yarder vs. Wisconsin and a 69-yarder vs. Western Michigan.