A year ago right now, UM football fans were scanning the 2007 schedule. They saw Appalachian State at the Big House week 1 and thought, "easy pickins." We all know what happened in that game. College football's biggest upset ever unfolded, ending Michigan's shot at a national championship in what ended up being Lloyd Carr's final season.
Moral of the story, nothing is "easy pickens" in sports.
Turn the page to 2008. New head coach Rich Rodriguez is set to unveil the spread offense in Ann Arbor, though he's remained pretty mum about how it will all work. Keep in mind, aside from his recruiting class he just brought in, the majority of the '08 Wolverines he inherited from the Carr regime, which didn't exactly focus on spread-offense-type talent. So, how does Rodriguez take a whole bunch of guys who aren't his type of players and make them into his type of players? That's the million dollar question.
Offensively, this team could struggle mightily in '08, to the likes UM football fans haven't seen in decades. Though Rodriguez has yet to officially name a starting QB, it's assumed that Georgia Tech transfer, Steven Threet will be the man under center to an offense that's only returning three starters: Tackle Stephen Schilling and part-time regulars Carson Butler at TE and fullback Mark Moundros.
Chad Henne and all his school records is gone. Tackle Jake Long, the top pick in this past April's NFL Draft, is no longer available to protect the QB and create holes for a running game. Mike Hart is also gone, taking with him UM's all-time records in carries and rushing yards.
For the first time since the early 1980's, UM football fans will head into a season with guarded optimism. If the majority of this team struggles to adapt to Rich Rodriguez's style, 2008 could be the first year in almost three decades the Wolverines football program doesn't appear in a post-season bowl game.
How weird will that be?