\u201cWe just went out there and played soft, simple as that,\u201d safety Rod Moore said.<\/p>\n
If the game had ended with Underwood\u2019s pass sailing out of the end zone, Michigan might have gotten at least a modicum of sympathy. Not much, but maybe a little. At the very least, a loss would have quelled any desire to inflict further consequences on Michigan. The embarrassment of losing to a MAC team for the second time in school history would have been punishment enough.<\/p>\n
Now, a substantial portion of the country will be rooting for Michigan to take its medicine against Oklahoma. The No. 11 Sooners are talented enough to hand Michigan a thrashing that feels like two losses in one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you come out how we came out soft against Western Michigan, it\u2019s going to be way more embarrassing than that was,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n
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\n Michigan linebacker Markel Dabney reacts after Michigan\u2019s last-second win. (Photo: Aaron J. Thornton \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Public opinion is so down on Michigan that fans are almost begging someone to make a contrarian argument for why the Wolverines aren\u2019t as bad as they looked. So, fine, here it is. This is the same Michigan team that many smart people pegged as a sleeper<\/a> heading into the season. It\u2019s not that uncommon for teams to have one awful game in September and go on to have good seasons, even great ones.<\/p>\n Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois in 2024 and won its next 13 games en route to the College Football Playoff championship game. The past two times Oregon played Boise State, the games went down to the wire. The Wolverines aren\u2019t as good as either of those teams, but last week\u2019s game wasn\u2019t indicative of Michigan\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n Michigan\u2019s defense kept Western Michigan out of the end zone and limited the Broncos to 3.3 yards per play. The Wolverines offense ran just 48 plays, barely enough to get to the second page of the gameplan. That\u2019s partly because they hurt themselves with turnovers and penalties, mistakes they aren\u2019t obligated to repeat against Oklahoma.<\/p>\n The Wolverines have spent all week hearing how disappointing they are. Even if they mostly succeed in tuning out the noise, it\u2019s natural to play angry when there\u2019s so much negativity in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cNot that any of that matters, but yeah, you see stuff like that and you\u2019re like, \u2018Damn, they did write us off,\u2019\u201d defensive end Dominic Nichols said. \u201cThat\u2019s all right, bro. It\u2019s Week 1. You\u2019ve got to keep loving your brothers and everything will come together.\u201d<\/p>\n