Michigan has scored 30 points in two games. Today's number is 41.5.

Michigan has played two games and scored 30 points.

It won both, and beat the 11th-ranked team in the country doing it. But 13 and then 17 is the whole offensive record of a team DraftKings had at 34.5 this morning, with a total of 48.5. Split those numbers and the implied score is Michigan 41.5, UTEP 7. DraftKings is asking Michigan to score more today than it has scored all season.

UTEP is at Michigan Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, 12:30 Pacific, on Big Ten Network, with Learfield Michigan Sports Network on the radio. The two have never played.

What the 30 points are made of#

The opener was 13-12 over Western Michigan, on 276 yards, with three turnovers and 19 minutes and 52 seconds of possession. Last week against Oklahoma it was 17-10, on 263 yards, with zero turnovers and 33 minutes and 17 seconds of possession.

That is 13:25 more possession and a swing of three turnovers in one week, and it is most of why Michigan beat a top-11 team. The defense did the rest: Oklahoma gained 289 yards, ran for 3.4 a carry, threw for 5.7 an attempt and converted 3 of 13 third downs. Jyaire Hill, No. 0, the senior cornerback, intercepted a pass and ran it back 24 yards. John Henry Daley, No. 90, had 8 tackles and 3 tackles for loss, and Troy Bowles, No. 18, had 9.

One number went the wrong way, and it went the wrong way twice. Michigan drew nine penalties for 80 yards against Western Michigan and 11 for 90 against Oklahoma. That is 20 accepted penalties and 170 yards in two games, and it is the one line that got worse.

Kerry Coombs put one of them on himself on Wednesday, a running into the kicker penalty that extended an Oklahoma drive: "all of that comes down to me coaching it better," per Maize n Brew. The same unit pinned Oklahoma inside its own 20 six times, behind punter Cam Brown, No. 33.

The team that is coming#

UTEP is 1-1 in Scotty Walden's third season, and Walden is 3-9 and 2-10 in his first two. The Miners were shut out 51-0 at Oklahoma on Friday September 4, gaining 198 yards on 2 of 13 third downs. Eight days later they beat Texas Southern, an FCS opponent, 51-10, with 491 yards and 252 rushing at 7.6 a carry.

So UTEP has been on both ends of a 51-point game in two weeks, and only one of those opponents plays in this division.

EJ Colson Jr., No. 1, is the quarterback: 14 of 21 for 239 yards and four touchdowns against Texas Southern, and pulled against Oklahoma. Tavorus Jones, No. 0, ran 16 times for 104 in that same game, and Kam Thomas, No. 8, caught two passes for 92 and a score. Note who those three did it against.

The useful comparison is Oklahoma, the closest thing to a Michigan-sized opponent UTEP has faced. Brian Cook at MGoBlog counted Oklahoma's top three backs at 149 yards on 28 carries against this defense, 5.32 a carry, with the caveat that it is three backs and not the whole team.

The X factor is the quarterback's legs, and whether they are the plan#

Bryce Underwood, No. 19, led Michigan in carries last week. Not among quarterbacks. On the team. He ran 18 times for 87 yards and a touchdown, and threw 17 passes for 111 yards with no touchdown and no interception. Jordan Marshall, No. 23, had 11 carries for 32. Savion Hiter, No. 5, had eight for six.

Eighteen carries from a quarterback against a top-11 defense is either an answer or an emergency, and today settles which. Against an opponent Michigan is favored to beat by nearly five touchdowns, with rain forecast through the afternoon, there is no reason to expose him to 18 more hits unless the staff believes the backs cannot do it. If Marshall and Hiter carry the load, last week was a plan built for Oklahoma. If Underwood runs 15 or more times in a blowout, it is the offense.

Watch the throwing volume with it. Michigan has attempted 40 passes in two games and thrown one touchdown, the 47-yarder to JJ Buchanan, No. 6, on the opener's final play. Cook wrote this week that what he wants most is chunk runs where the blocking scheme matches the front, and his complaints are the tight ends and the backs' decision-making. None of that is about UTEP, which is the point: this is the week to fix things an opponent cannot punish.

Availability, and what is actually known#

Michigan Athletics has published no injury report and is not obliged to, and UTEP is non-conference, so the Big Ten availability report does not apply either. The whole record is Kyle Whittingham, September 14.

On the offensive line: "We hope to get Evan Link back. In fact, we should have him back this week, barring anything unforeseen. But Nate Efobi stepped in and did a nice job at left guard. You may see a rotation there this week with those two." Link is No. 71 and Efobi is No. 55.

On the other two: "Carter should be good to go this week. Andrew, setback. And so we're going to have to work through some things, and he will not be available in the near future, unfortunately." That is Carter Meadows, No. 14, at edge, and Andrew Babalola, No. 65, on the line. No injury is named for any of them, "near future" is a timeline and not a diagnosis, and nothing published says Babalola's season is over. Hogan Hansen, No. 80, the tight end, has not been addressed by a coach since August 23.

Michigan 31, UTEP 10. The defense that held Oklahoma under 300 yards will not need much, and the offense that has scored 30 points in two games is not the offense that scores 41 in the wet.

Sources: mgoblue.com schedule and roster pages, opened September 19; CollegeFootballData game, box-score, rankings and lines feeds for 2026, read 8:14 a.m. Eastern September 19; MGoBlog (Brian Cook) for the UTEP preview, the Oklahoma rushing count and the forecast; Maize n Brew (Zach Edwards) for Kerry Coombs's Wednesday availability; MGoBlog's transcript of Kyle Whittingham's September 14 press conference for the quotes on availability.