Michigan football: Impressive win still doesn’t change narrative for Wolverines

Regardless of opponent, when you win a college football game 49-3, you have reason to smile. There were plenty of smiles along the Michigan sideline Saturday afternoon in the Big House, and that was a good thing. Beating Western Michigan that easily was nice.

They needed reasons to smile.

There’s so much pressure on this Michigan team — and coach Jim Harbaugh in particular — to have a big season that sometimes the fun gets sucked out of a game you’re supposed to enjoy. The heat got ramped up even more after the season-opening loss to Notre Dame, and anything good that happens always feels good. Saturday, for sure, felt good.

But then here’s the rub:

None of what happened on Saturday really means much, because the story that gets told about this Michigan football program is that they “can’t win the big game.” That’s still true because Saturday absolutely doesn’t count as a big game.

Michigan can’t change that narrative for a while yet. You might see some nice things said if the Wolverines are impressive against  middle-of-the-pack Big Ten teams like Nebraska (Sept. 22) and Northwestern (Sept. 29), but nothing can honestly change unless they perform well in that three-game gauntlet with Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State between Oct. 13 and Nov. 3. And perform well — and win — against Ohio State to finish the season.

Sorry, but that’s just the way it is. Beating up on Western Michigan doesn’t get you much national love. The national love — if it’s going to come — will have to come later.

Still, there were some good things to see Saturday, which is promising. Most notably:

• Shea Patterson’s three touchdown passes: Outside of Harbaugh, there’s no one with more pressure on him that quarterback Shea Patterson. When he transferred to Michigan from Ole Miss, he was the instant savior, which is accurate because he’s the best QB Harbaugh has had at Michigan. He threw three touchdown passes Saturday and looked comfortable in the pocket. His first day in the Big House was something special for a kid who always dreamed about playing there.
• Karan Higdon’s long touchdown run: As much as it’s important for Patterson to play well, what might be the most important thing for Michigan is to get back to having a dominating running game. They showed that on Saturday as well. They rushed for 308 yards as a team, with Higdon leading the way with 156 yards. It was nice to see him break a long one. That 67-yard touchdown run was a thing of beauty.
• Defense that dominates as it should: That’s another thing that can help change that narrative later once the big boys roll back around on the schedule. It’s critical for the Michigan defense to be an elite unit. They weren’t the first week, giving up two long TD drives to start the game, putting Michigan in a 14-0 hole. Saturday against Western Michigan, they dominated from start to finish and should have had that shutout. It was good to see them totally control a game.

It’s easy to say that Western Michigan, a team from the Mid-American Conference, isn’t much of a barometer as to how good Michigan can be. But the Broncos are ranked No. 91 out of 255 FCS and FBS schools in the Sagarin ratings, ahead of Big Ten bottom feeders like Rutgers (94) and Illinois (105). They will win plenty of games, so there is some cache to winning so easily. They’ll make a bowl game and might contend for the MAC title.

It’s a win, and there are smiles. That’s all good. SMU is next in the Big House, and there likely will be more smiles as well.

But it all still comes down to what happens later in those big games with Wisconsin and Penn State, and with Michigan State and Ohio State. That’s when the really good stories will be told. Hopefully.

And that’s the only time when the narrative can change. Saturday wasn’t for that. But  that’s OK. All the Wolverines could do Saturday was what they did, win easily, be impressive doing it, and smiling.

Check, check, check.

Tom Brew

Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.