Welcome to the Big Ten, Rich Rodriguez. You better make nice with the hosts at the Big House and bring them a nice bottle of wine to drink after you make a wonderful pot roast for them to enjoy! Welcome, Mr. Rodriguez! Oh…sorry, we forgot to tell you that Emeril is going to be at the Big House too making his own special recipe.

So goes the story where Michigan is playing its opener against a very good mid-major team in Utah. Sure, the Wolverines are playing in Ann Arbor, and sure, Utah probably can’t prepare as well since Michigan’s offense is still a mystery of sorts–but that’s the biggest problem! Only 3 starters return to the Maize and Blue on offense, and with the very complex offense that Rodriguez runs, happening to run into a team like Utah, which was 9-4 last year and returns 14 starters, this doesn’t have the same ring as Coastal Carolina-Penn State, now does it?

Michigan is a 3.5 point favorite right now, but with Utah QB Brian Johnson causing some matchup problems despite the fact that Michigan’s strength is on defense, I see this being a game which is in fact close, but Utah’s experience will be the telling factor here–Rodriguez is a good coach, but it’s still way too early to think that they will beat the Utes. Plus, with Appalachian State marching in to Michigan last year and pulling one of the biggest upsets in collegiate football history, the “intimidation” factor isn’t as high as it used to be, despite the 100K that will swarm upon Rodriguez’ Wolverine debut.

I will be very interested to see Steven Threet in action, as R-Rod has likened him to former protege Shaun King. Of course, most people expect about a bajillion carries by Brandon Minor, and while they will use him pretty heavily, a la Illinois of the 90s who ran Robert Holcombe about 50 times a game, Rodriguez is not afraid to really start to get aggressive and risky right off the bat. If Threet and Minor can get it going, Michigan may really surprise a lot of people from the beginning, but the big ole gut is thinking logically that it will be close, but no cigar for Michigan. My pick: Utah 13, Michigan 10