The Michigan Wolverines 2021 football schedule has long been set, but the kickoff times for the first four games have been set. The new campaign begins with a visit from Western Michigan on Sept. 4 (12 p.m. ET) on ESPN.
Washington will come to Ann Arbor on Sept. 11 for a Big Ten vs. Pac-12 showdown that will be ABC’s primetime game at 7:30 p.m.
The Sept. 18 contest against Northern Illinois will take place at 12 p.m. and be broadcast via Big Ten Network.
Michigan’s conference opener against Rutgers will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 25. A television network has not been set for that matchup.
Michigan’s only other game time that has been set is the rivalry tilt with Ohio State on Nov. 27, which will kick off at noon on FOX.
Here it is in bullet point form:
- Sept. 4 – vs. Western Michigan, 12 p.m. (ESPN)
- Sept. 11 – vs. Washington, 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
- Sept. 18 – vs. Northern Illinois, 12 p.m. (BTN)
- Sept. 25 – vs. Rutgers, 3:30 p.m. (TV TBD)
- Nov. 27 – vs. Ohio State, 12 p.m. (FOX)
Michigan will be looking to put last season behind them with a brand new look on defense and tweaks to the offensive operation. Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has a co-OC alongside him this season with Sherrone Moore, who also takes over offensive line coaching duties. Former U-M star Mike Hart returns to Ann Arbor to coach the running backs, while Matt Weiss was brought in from the Baltimore Ravens to coach the quarterbacks. Redshirt sophomore Cade McNamara is expected to start the season as the team’s signal-caller.
The defense is led by former Ravens linebackers coach Mike Macdonald, who has been the architect of a complete overhaul on that side of the football. The Wolverines are expected to experiment with more three-man fronts as they move out of the Don Brown era.
DraftKings has Michigan’s over/under for total wins set at 8 for Jim Harbaugh’s seventh season at the helm of the program.