Climb into the time machine and transport yourself back to August. Walk over to the water cooler and interrupt your friends grumbling about the fast-leaking news that redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight could become Michigan’s starting quarterback.

Then toss a lighted match on that gas tank, suggesting he’ll be one of the best QBs in the Big Ten — and watch it blow.

They’ll say you’re dumber than Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne after a Kardashians binge watch. They’ll insist you exhibit the college football savvy of a Pintupi Aboriginal.

And they’ll laugh … but it won’t be the last laugh.

The Big Ten labeled Speight the league’s Offensive Player Of The Week, after he tormented DJ Durkin and Maryland with a 19-of-24, 362-yard, two-touchdown passing effort. Whatever grudge the 6-6, 243-pound Speight held against the Durkins — or turtles in general, for that matter — has to be out of his system now.

That’s Speight’s latest leap in leading the 9-0, No. 2-ranked team in the nation. In case you’re keeping score — and head coach Jim Harbaugh loves to do that — the Michigan triggerman is 149-of-231 passing (64.5 percent) on the year. He’s thrown for 2,053 yards and 15 touchdowns, with a miserly three interceptions along the way.

In case you’re wondering, Brian Griese threw five interceptions through Michigan’s first nine games in the national championship season of 1997, on his way to six overall.

Speight stands as the most-efficient passer in the Big Ten, with a 158.0 rating. Nationally, he’s No. 14.

That’s a long way from no way he beats out John O’Korn.

“Wilton Speight is the best quarterback in the Big Ten,” Big Ten Network college football analyst Marcus Ray insisted. “He is the straw that stirs that drink, offensively, for Michigan. He’s getting better and playing at a high level.”

Harbaugh took it a step farther, insisting Speight played the best half of football he’s ever seen out of a Michigan quarterback in the first 30 minutes against Maryland. That’s high praise for someone who once rallied the Wolverines from a 14-3 deficit in Columbus to win, among other notable achievements.

Speight seems ridiculously unimpressed by it all. There’s no, gee whiz, I can’t believe all this feeling to him — at all. He expected to be here, and he expected to succeed.

Confidence, if not controlled cockiness, oozes from the first-year starter. He happened to run into a staffer from The Wolverine early last summer and didn’t mind one bit taking on an off-hand inquiry about the battle ahead.

The response: I’m going to be the quarterback.

And he is, one that gets better each game, moving deftly about the pocket and delivering big throws downfield. Harbaugh wanted a leader to know his offense like Jean Francois Champollion knew the Rosetta Stone, and be one that could hang in to deliver ICBMs under heavy fire.

Speight proved rock solid on both fronts, with no letup in sight.

"I love his deep ball, his accuracy and poise,” Ray said. “He’s college football’s version of [Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback] Ben Roethlisberger … he’s the reason they’re 9-0. Yes, it’s a team effort, but it’s a quarterback-driven game right now, I don’t care what level of football it is. He’s playing lights-out football.

“There were plays he was able to extend earlier in the year with his legs. He’s hard to tackle, and he’s deceptively athletic … I’m impressed with his ability to still look downfield and be able to throw the ball with guys in his face. He doesn’t play scared.”

Speight’s not perfect, by any means. He experienced some throws earlier in the season that could have — probably should have — been picked off. He still short-arms throws and occasionally fouls up footwork. Guaranteed, Harbaugh and quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch aren’t talking to him behind the scenes about how great he is.

Plus, some of his toughest tests remain. Iowa isn’t any world-beater this season, but playing at Kinnick Stadium, at night, with an on-fire crowd so close to the Michigan bench you can smell the corn whiskey, will put any QB on notice.

Then there’s a little excursion in three weeks, to a venue where no Michigan quarterback has won since Drew Henson. That’s a sobering test, even if sobriety isn’t on the local breakfast menu.

At this point, Speight looks ready to take on all comers. He’s already shocked the world, three-quarters of the way through Michigan’s regular season, and all that remains involves how many more foes he electrocutes.