ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The defending national champion Michigan football team will open the 2024 season under the lights against Fresno State.
Coming off a perfect 15-0 season to close out the four-team playoff era, Michigan is facing one of the toughest schedules in all of college football.
It was already announced that the Week 2 matchup against Texas will be a noon kickoff. Now we know that the game before, on Aug. 31, will kick off at 7:30 p.m. in Ann Arbor. It will be broadcast on NBC.
Fresno State is coming off its third-straight winning season. The Bulldogs won 10 games in 2021 and 2022 before finishing last year 9-4 with a New Mexico Bowl victory.
Michigan’s third non-conference game is against Arkansas State, which made its first bowl game in four seasons last year after nine-straight winning seasons.
The Big Ten schedule includes home games against USC, Michigan State, and Oregon and road trips to Washington and Ohio State.
The Wolverines also host Minnesota and Northwestern and travel to Illinois and Indiana.
Michigan brings back a championship-caliber defense led by cornerback Will Johnson and a defensive line of Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josiah Stewart, and Derrick Moore.
On offense, there are more question marks. Michigan lost star quarterback J.J. McCarthy, record-breaking running back Blake Corum, wide receivers Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson, tight end A.J. Barner, and most of its veteran offensive line.
The quarterback position will be a major question mark, though the presence of running Donovan Edwards and tight end Colston Loveland will certainly help.
We'll open the 2024 season under the lights!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/399TslsNCj
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) May 13, 2024