The Michgian Wolverines are through two games, and still searching for an identity. Their offense certainly has some questions that they need to answer. Thankfully, there I sstill time for them to find answers to what ails them.

Without a preseason schedule, it’s hard for teams to work on things in search of finding what they are good at.

Michigan had even less time to figure some of those things out, because they only have three non-conference games. One of those games was against a marquee opponent in Oklahoma.

Despite that, the Wolverines are 2-0, and they have found some things they should be able to hang their hat on with conference play set to begin next week.

Here are the three biggest strengths that have emerged through two games.

Pass Rush

Far and away the biggest strength through two games is what shined the brightest in Michigan’s 17-10 win over Oklahoma. Michigan is at its best when they’re able to get pressure with their front four.

That was true under Mike McDonald. That was true under Jesse Minter. Even with some resistance, it was true under Wink Martindale as well.

It’s true again under Jay Hill. Michigan’s defense was smothering on Saturday, largely due to the abilities of John Henry Daley and Dom Nichols who were causing all kinds of trouble for John Mateer Saturday afternoon. Nichols has at least one sack in each of the first two games. Daley got his first sack as a Wolverine on Saturday as he continues to work his way back from a torn achilles that he suffered a season ago.

Michigan’s pass rush could get better as the season goes along. Nate Marshall ended Saturday’s game with a walk-off sack when Michigan only rushed three players. Carter Meadows has yet to play a snap, but the five-star recruit is oozing with talent. Ifeanyi Emedobi has also flashed some talent in limited reps during the season.

A deep, talented defensive end room could cause the Wolverines to get more exotic when teams get into obvious passing situations. They could employ a NASCAR style package with four defensive ends to try and rush the passer.

This is not to discredit the work done by Trey Pierce, who has certainly looked the part through two games. Enow Etta and Jonah Lea’ea have been bright spots as well.

Michigan’s schedule is going to get tougher. They’ll face Josh Hoover of Indiana, Dante Moore of Oregon, and Julian Sayin of Ohio State at the end of the season. That doesn’t account for a game against Rocco Becht and Penn State on October 17. There are plenty of good quarterbacks that Michigan will face between now and the end of the season.

If they can continue to put pressure on the quarterback, that will be the ultimate equalizer against the high-powered offenses on their schedule.  

Secondary

Rush and coverage are typically a perfect marriage to each other. If the rush works quickly, coverage players do not have to cover as long. When the rush takes a little more time, coverage players can force quarterbacks to pat the ball to give the rush more time to get home.

Michigan’s coverage has been excellent through two games this season. All three of their starting cornerbacks, Smith Snowden, Zeke Berry, and Jyaire Hill have been sticky in coverage to start the season.

Yes, there were some plays made against them by Oklahoma’s tight end Rocky Beers. Beers is going to make plays against a lot of secondaries this season.

Michigan had a tough challenge with Isaiah Sategna III, and they shut him down thanks to all of the aforementioned cornerbacks.

Shamari Earls should continue to grow to give them a solid fourth cornerback in the event of an injury.

In the safety room, Rod Moore continues to work his way back from a serious knee injury, and Chris Bracy has been a pleasant surprise out of the transfer portal. Mason Curtis has given the team some good snaps as well.

This group is helping push Michigan’s defense toward the top of the country. If they can continue to grow as a pass rush, while this secondary continues to make plays, Michigan’s defense could be in a very good spot at the end of the season.

Punter

Maybe it’s not a good thing if the punter is one of the team’s strengths, but that’s certainly true in Ann Arbor as of now.

Cam Brown has been one of the team’s best players in each of the first two games, and that was especially true in Saturday’s win over Oklahoma.

Brown had two punts that pinned Oklahoma deep in their own territory. One of those punts helped lead to Michigan’s game-changing interception of John Mateer.

Through two games Brown has had eight of his 13 punts downed inside the 20, with a long of 51.

If Michigan is going to have to win early in the season by playing defense and winning the field position battle, someone like Brown is a legitimate weapon.