Yes! No. Maybe? EMU dominated on road, CMU run game rolls, WMU outlasts Rice

Week 3 has come and gone, with FBS teams from Michigan going 3-2 over the weekend — and perhaps not unexpectedly so. 

Eastern Michigan looked strong before getting blown away at Wisconsin, while Michigan State battled hard and made Notre Dame sweat it out in an eventual multi-score loss in South Bend. Elsewhere, Michigan eventually dominated UTEP, Central Michigan ground Wyoming to paste with the run game and Western Michigan outlasted Rice on the road in the Houston heat. 

There’s plenty to get into from the weekend, good, bad, and indifferent. Let’s dig in. 

Yes!

Central Michigan’s run game, Angel Flores: Flores ended up leading the charge, carrying the ball 28 times (including a kneel down at the end) for 163 yards and two first half touchdowns. Head coach Matt Drinkall postgame said they don’t want Flores to carry it that many times in the future, but the quarterback was making the right reads, getting Central Michigan into the right looks, and at the forefront of a CMU offense that ran for 339 yards. Tailbacks Jayden Clerveaux, Vaughn Blue and Brock Townsend all got going, and Central Michigan’s run game dominated as the Chippewas rolled past Wyoming. 

Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan: Michigan might have a real nice receiver tandem cooking here, as Buchanan continued his strong start to the 2026 season and Marsh finally got going after the coaching staff made a concerted point about it during the week. Marsh finished with a game-high 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown while Buchanan added seven for 92 and a score. They’re a combo that give Michigan some real punch among the pass catchers, and have varied skillsets, to boot. Plus that Marsh highlight catch on the sideline was special. 

Jalen Buckley: Western Michigan’s lead back, coming off a light usage, three touchdown performance in a blowout over Monmouth, toted just 13 times in a win over Rice but was highly productive, with 118 yards and a touchdown. After years of being banged up and not at his fullest potential — while still being quite good — he’s looking strong to start the 2026 season. And he’s carried the ball just 42 times in three games, keeping plenty of tread on the tire for Boise State this Saturday and the run through the MAC. He also currently is atop the conference with four rushing touchdowns. 

Central Michigan’s defense: Sean Cronin has got his group dialed in, giving up just 17 points across the last two games. And after coming up with four takeaways against Colgate, the Chippewas waited awhile to create splash plays like takeaways and sacks on Saturday as Wyoming’s Tyler Hughes proved an elusive subject under center. But the Cowboys didn’t get on the board until the third quarter, already trailing by 17, and didn’t get into the end zone until the start of the fourth quarter. Then the Chippewas came up with a pair of late interceptions to seal the deal. Safety and former Cowboy Justin Taylor starred on Saturday, but it’s been a real committee, sum-of-all-parts style that’s fueled this success for the CMU defense. 

Michigan’s third quarter: Somehow eking out a 17-14 lead at halftime, Michigan looked like it was in for another uncomfortably close game with a perceived lesser opponent. Then the defense forced three straight three and outs as the offense scored three straight touchdowns to open the third quarter before a Jonah Lea’ea big man pick six capped affairs on the last play of the quarter and Michigan had piled on 28 points, turning a close game into a 45-14 laugher. And that sort of complementary football — stops turning into points, over and over — is exactly the foundation of how Michigan can dominate a lot of teams, especially if the defense plays like it did in the second half. 

No.

Eastern Michigan after the first few drives: To start on Saturday, the Eagles stopped Wisconsin’s offense for a turnover on downs, quickly drove 60-plus yards for a touchdown and intercepted the Badgers on the ensuing drive. It was all setting up for Eastern Michigan to put a Big Ten foe in a pressure cooker. Instead, Eastern Michigan went three and out, the Badgers drove down for a field goal, and things unraveled. After its first offensive series and before two last-gasp drives down big late, Eastern Michigan ran 27 plays for 59 yards across eight drives spanning from the first to third quarter. Eastern Michigan’s offense got absolutely shut down and the defense were lambs to the slaughter at a certain point. The strong start was quickly forgotten with how ugly things turned. The focus now turns to an FCS get-right game before MAC play begins in earnest. 

Eastern Michigan’s run game: More specifically to EMU, the Eagles struggled to move the ball on the ground after a couple promising outings in that regard. Joey Mattord led the team with 36 yards on nine carries, and EMU as a whole finished with 62 yards on 30 carries. There was just little to no consistent production to be found for the Eastern Michigan run game. And Wisconsin had something to do with that, as the Badgers came up with seven tackles for loss. But it was a step back for the EMU rushing offense after a few strong showings. 

Michigan State’s offensive line, run game: 27 carries for 44 yards, four sacks and six tackles for loss given up. Notre Dame had its way with MSU’s offensive line and blocking for much of the night. And that’s not a surprise, to be clear. Notre Dame is very good! But it was a dose of reality about where the MSU offensive line is in terms of competing against top-level competition. And the answer is there’s a way to go. Cam Edwards is a talented back and Alessio Milivojevic is a good quarterback, but there’s not much they’ll be able to do on nights when their offensive line is struggling to keep its collective head above water. 

Michigan’s first quarter: The Wolverines started slow against a G6 team for the second time in as many tries this season. Michigan didn’t score until the second quarter and trailed, 7-0 at that point. Michigan’s first touchdown drive started in the first quarter but was mostly the domain of the second. On two drives contained in the first quarter, Michigan fumbled the ball away and went three and out. And after the fumble on the first drive, UTEP used five plays, the fifth being a big throw on a tricky play, to score and take an early lead. It all set a script where Michigan had to score 17 in the second quarter just to lead at the half. The Wolverines need to find a way to start hotter going forward. 

Turnovers: Eastern Michigan gave up the ball three times. Michigan did so twice. MSU also coughed up two turnovers. Even WMU put the ball on the turf four times, but only lost one. Michigan managed to win because the defense and offense eventually just leaned on an ultimately overmatched UTEP, but two early fumbles made it a game at halftime. Eastern Michigan saw a 7-3 lead quickly unravel with the aid of three turnovers becoming 21 points for Wisconsin and MSU actually managed to keep Notre Dame off the scoreboard on its two gifted drives, but the cost of the possessions was massive in a game that MSU managed to make a slog out of. Can’t cough up the ball, not take it away equally, and expect to win. 

Maybe? 

Central Michigan’s passing offense: Yes, they didn’t throw in the second half. Yes, they attempted just seven passes. But this had to start somewhere, and Flores going 4-of-7 for 32 yards and being completely in control is a massive step forward for a passing offense that was anywhere from bad to DOA in the first two games. Flores also could’ve had a short touchdown pass to Tayte Vanderleest if the duo combined better on a throw and catch attempt on a whip route in the end zone. What CMU got out of the passing game on Saturday isn’t enough to get where it wants to go, but it’s a positive step — and more success from the run game will only open up the opportunities to stretch the legs of the passing game. 

Western Michigan’s defense: Rice is a bit of a tough cover, running a modern version of the triple option with big and strong Jacurri Brown at quarterback. And Western Michigan’s defense had its share of struggles with it, namely containing Brown. He finished with 121 passing yards and a TD while going 11-of-18 and rushed for an additional 128 yards and a touchdown. He did account for most of Rice’s offensive production, as the Broncos hemmed in the rest of the rushing attack for the Owls. It wasn’t a bad performance, but it wasn’t game-altering, either. This defense evidently has some more upside — upside it showed already — but Saturday wasn’t the best outing we’re likely to see from these Broncos on defense. 

Savion Hiter and Jordan Marshall: Michigan’s running back duo has just had a weird start to the season. Mostly, it’s been less productive than expected as Michigan’s run offense has not been very promising to start. Neither are Top 100 rushers nationally, and Michigan as a team currently ranks No. 90 nationally in rushing offense, one spot behind Michigan State. But the talent of Marshall is known and Hiter is quickly proving to live up to the billing of his talents. They both had nice outings vs. UTEP, combining for 123 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. Eventually, one or both of them will crack the 100 yard threshold. 

Michigan State’s defense: This group made Notre Dame and a very good quarterback work for it all night. Jordan Hall put in a heroic performance, with 13 combined tackles with about 1.5 functioning arms for much of the night and the Spartans defense came through with nice runs of play at various points. Notre Dame was 0-for-4 on third downs in the first quarter, for instance. But the lack of difference-making ability showed up plenty, too, as the Irish eventually ground down MSU. There just isn’t a pass rusher that can just win and get a sack or a defensive back who makes the game-swinging play on this side of the ball for Michigan State — at least yet. 

Bryce Underwood: The fumble bites, surely, but Underwood had vs. UTEP arguably his single best game as a passer in college (a win vs. Washington last year is the other option here). He didn’t throw an interception, came up with two touchdowns through the air, and completed 19-of-25 passes for 223 yards. He gave his receivers chances, didn’t put the ball in jeopardy unnecessarily, looked confident and decisive and worked quickly through his progressions. There’s plenty of room to grow, still, and UTEP is probably the worst team Michigan will play this year on paper, but Underwood looked sharp passing in ways that have been rare during his 16 games of college football to date.