Michigan Football's 2022 campaign began with a routine pummeling of a completely overmatched non-conference opponent, but one that did nothing to calm the fire of a fanbase already teeming with takes about the QB competition. Cade McNamara was often shaky; JJ McCarthy, when on the field, was crisp. It really didn't matter: Michigan annihilated Colorado State in the trenches and cruised to a 51-7 victory. Let the debate begin. 

Michigan got the football to begin the game and much of what will be discussed coming out of this game with regards to the QBs took place on the first few drives. After a four yard Blake Corum run opened the game, Cade McNamara rolled out and had Cornelius Johnson open, but he put the ball too low for Johnson to do anything with it and it fell incomplete. On third down, McNamara again looked for Johnson on a comebacks route, but the pass was well wide. The Wolverines punted. 

After a rather prompt stop by the Michigan defense, the Wolverines got the ball back. A 19 yard run for Blake Corum opened the drive and then McNamara threw a screen pass to Roman Wilson. The speedster got a couple good blocks from his fellow receivers, and then was gone. 61 yards to the house, all of it YAC. Michigan led 7-0.

[Patrick Barron]

The Michigan defense would quickly force an interception, snagged by Rod Moore and returned all the way to the Ram 13 yard line. With McNamara given a short field, he was unable to punch the ball in. A throw behind a receiver and possibly tipped fell incomplete. Blake Corum was tackled by the shoelaces on second down and then Erick All stumbled and McNamara's throw did not seem accurate for where All would've been and landed in the arms of a Ram defender, although the call was changed to an incompletion upon review. Jake Moody kicked a FG to make it 10-0. 

The next drive was a similar story. McNamara threw a ball to Ronnie Bell, the receiver's first catch since the ACL injury last season. A strong rushing game and a slant to Cornelius Johnson marched Michigan down the field and set up the Wolverines with 1st & Goal from the 6, but again they failed to convert in the red zone. A missed block by Zak Zinter led to a distressing four yard loss on 1st down, then a one yard run, and a throwaway from McNamara under pressure led to another Moody FG. 13-0. 

It was around that time that offensive line injuries began to play a notable role in the game narrative. Ryan Hayes, starting LT, missed the game with an injury deemed by one insider to be "precautionary", leading to Karsen Barnhart starting at that position. But during the goal line series, Barnhart himself was nicked up, forcing LG Trevor Keegan to slide outside and RS Fr Gio El-Hadi to slide in at LG. Combined with Trente Jones getting his first ever start at RT, the line in front of McNamara was more rickety than expected. On the other hand, McNamara did not seem particularly comfortable relying on his legs to evade pressure. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More recap]

[Bryan Fuller]

The next drive for the Michigan offense was another punt after a drop by Ronnie Bell and a poor pass protection set from Trente Jones, leading to a drive-ending sack. Perhaps upon seeing those developments, Jim Harbaugh decided to call off the pass altogether. The next series saw not a single passing play, as Michigan paved the Rams right down the field. Four rushes for Donovan Edwards and two rushes for Blake Corum later, the Wolverines were in the end zone. The final drive of the McNamara half was a two-minute drill after Michigan got the ball back with 49 seconds left on the Ram 47-yard line. McNamara made two nice throws to Erick All and Cornelius Johnson but wobbly pass pro and McNamara's conservative nature led to two throwaways. Moody booted his third FG of the half and Michigan led 23-0 at the break. 

While all the chatter on social media was about the offense, the defense was dominant in the first half, shutting CSU out and holding the Rams to under 100 yards of total offense. The game was won in the trenches for the defense. Despite the questions at EDGE, Michigan's crop of pass rushers abused a poor-for-a-Mountain-West-team offensive line on basically every snap. Colorado State's Air Raid offense attempted to get around the deficiencies, trying to stretch the field laterally, but the coverage from the Michigan DBs and tackling in space was terrific. Mike Sainristil, in his first game as the nickel, stood out in that regard. 

But back to the pass rush, it was dominant. The first CSU drive ended with a blitz that saw RJ Moten and Sainristil converge to sack Rams' QB Clay Millen. The second drive saw DE Braiden McGregor provide good pressure, forcing the Millen INT to Moore. The third drive saw Rashaun Benny stuff a run up the middle and Jaylen Harrell get off the edge to sniff out a screen. The fourth drive saw McGregor nearly collect a sack, and Junior Colson pounce on another play. 

[Patrick Barron]

It just kept going. Eyabi Anoma and Mike Morris met in the middle for a sack, Derrick Moore's pressure forced an incompletion, RJ Moten sacked Millen for a turnover on downs, and on and on. Drive after drive, snap after snap, was marred by CSU's total inability to hold up in pass protection for even a couple of seconds. It blew up all downfield passing attempts, and the speed of Michigan's defense in space handled the screen game well. Arguably the best offense for Colorado State in the first half was Clay Millen scrambling when contain broke. 

The second half started the way the first one ended. CSU moved the ball a bit but quickly the protection broke down again. Going for it on 4th & 7 on their own 41, the Rams were unable to block Mike Morris or Jaylen Harrell off the edges, who got to Millen before his arm was going forward and produced a strip sack. DJ Turner scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 45 yards for a TD, which made it 30-0. 

McNamara came out to lead the next drive and got Michigan into CSU territory when JJ McCarthy entered. McCarthy's entrance helped open up a running lane for CJ Stokes on his second collegiate run, and then the very next play saw McCarthy keep the football for 20 yards and a score. 37-0, and Michigan Twitter was ablaze. 

[Patrick Barron]

The defense continued to do their job, letting CSU get a bit of yardage before slamming the door on the line. This time it was Mazi Smith with the sack on 4th down. McCarthy stayed in the game on offense with a few more QB keepers, rifling a dart on 3rd & 5 to AJ Henning, and then giving way to Donovan Edwards to punch the ball in for another TD. 44-0. 

That drive more or less ended the game in terms of regulars being on the field... the 2nd/3rd team defense and offense would take it the rest of the way. The defensive reserves finally ceded points on a great ball from Millen to Tory Horton, who had a small step on freshman Will Johnson. The 34-yard TD strike was a very similar play to one that Johnson broke up earlier in the game against Horton, so the final count was one victory apiece in that matchup.

Michigan responded with a long and grinding drive that ate up seven of the remaining ~nine minutes of game time. Alan Bowman took over at QB, throwing passes to such receivers as Hunter Neff, Colston Loveland, and Payton O'Leary, and Tavierre Dunlap and Isaiah Gash both got to carry it. Michigan went for it on 4th & Goal from the four, with Alex Orji executing a zone read alongside CJ Stokes, plunging forward and into the end zone for the final score of the day. CSU ran three plays to milk the remaining clock and the final score sat at 51-7. 

[Patrick Barron]

This was an extremely lopsided game that can only tell us so much. The Michigan offensive line was down a couple guys, and Michigan was going up against a cobbled together offensive line on the other side of the ball, stitched together through cast-off transfers. The edge question marks showed some promise, McGregor and Anoma in particular showcased good burst, but Michigan needs to play a much better offensive line to say more. Unfortunately that may not come for a few weeks.

It's also a game that will be more revealing on re-watch, especially for the defense. The defensive personnel shuffled constantly and it was hard to keep track in real time. Johnson's aforementioned pass plays were about the most I could glean from the DBs, and the LBs seemed fine. Whether that is true on re-watch will be determined in the coming days. 

On offense, I was surprised that Michigan ran it as much as they did. Of course, this is still a Jim Harbaugh team. It shouldn't be surprising, but I figured they would air it out more given the attention on the QB competition. A common talking point was about whether McNamara would push the ball downfield more. He took no deep shots and deprived us of the chance to learn much about the WRs. Whether that changes next week during the "McCarthy game" will be fascinating.

[Bryan Fuller]

It's hard to say whether this is who Cade is. He was better than this last year and may have just had the yips. We heard in camp he had improved, but it was not seen today. McCarthy looked more locked in, accurate when throwing the ball and of course, the legs can't compare. McNamara will need to play better when he gets his next chance or else the QB job may be gone from his control before long. This was the "McNamara game" and he was not the best QB on the field. Never what you want to see. 

In total, Michigan outgained Colorado State 440-219. They had 24 first downs to 14 for CSU, but held Colorado State to 2/11 on 3rd down and 1/4 on 4th down. Michigan's defense recorded a fumble recovery TD, an INT, and seven sacks. Michigan gained 6.5 yards per play on offense, to 3.7 for CSU. The Rams may not be a bad offensive team for the MWC when it's all said and done, but today they were overwhelmed. A tomato can game, and Michigan took quick care of an easy opponent. 

Next week is perhaps an even easier opponent in Hawaii, who are 0-1 to begin the season, with a game scheduled tonight against Western Kentucky. Next week's game will be at 8:00 pm EST on Big Ten Network.