Eyes on the Enemy is MBR's weekly preview of Michigan's upcoming opponent, released every Thursday of game week.

It's September. You know what that means.

Michigan football is back.

The Wolverines host Colorado State at noon on Saturday in Ann Arbor as one of the first games to kick off during Week 1's loaded weekend schedule.

Jim Harbaugh's program has no shortage of storylines heading into the new year. For starters, they have two starting quarterbacks rotating the first two weeks.

But we know enough about that, right?

We certainly don't know enough about Michigan's opponent, Colorado State, which has a new head coach and an essentially new roster.

Let's dive into the Rams before they enter the Big House in two days.

Head coach: Jay Norvell (first year, hired away from Nevada)

Offensive scheme: Air Raid

Defensive scheme: 4-2-5

2021 record: 3-9

2022 projections: 5-7 (SP+) 7th in MWC (MWWire.com)

Colorado State has a new coach who came with many new players, which seems commonplace in today's college football world, thanks to the transfer portal.

The Rams are relying on a large portion of incoming transfers -- 11 from Norvell's Nevada team -- after 27 players entered the portal following the termination of former head coach Steve Addazio.

There's talent on their depth chart, but with so many new faces in the first year of a program rebuild, it's hard to believe it'll be in sync enough to contend with the Wolverines.

Let's break it down.

Colorado State will air it out on Saturday and every other Saturday after that in Norvell's air raid offense.

Quarterback isn't a long-term concern for the program but might be in the short-term.

Sophomore Clay Millen followed Norvell from Nevada to CSU. Millen played in two games with minimal statistics in his sole season with the Wolf Pack.

According to a story from the team website, Millen's swagger isn't a front. He has legitimate talent, and Norvell brought him with the intention to center the rebuild around the 19-year-old.

The offensive line has experience with three seniors and a junior, but the unit has no experience together. All four upperclassmen transferred in. Left tackle Brian Crespo-Jaquez is the rumored starter and the only returner on the o-line. One problem: he's never played. His competition is Ches Jackson, a redshirt senior who can't be good if he can't win this job.

The Rams have a strong group of wide receivers, including star Dante Wright, who stuck around to play for Norvell. In an injury-riddled eight games last season, Wright totaled 538 on 43 catches. He finished with three touchdowns, including two against Wyoming. MWWire.com listed Wright as the 16th-best player in the Mountain West Conference.

Tory Horton, Jr came over from Nevada and should become the team's most productive wideout. Horton, Jr played behind Romeo Doubs, a Packers draft pick, at Nevada, and still managed to total 995 yards on 72 catches and 10 touchdowns in two seasons.

At running back, A'Jon Vivens is a Colorado lifer likely to be a fan favorite because of it. With so many Nevada injections, Vivens is one of the few starters on the offense from last season. He's a good pass-catcher who should be effective if his offensive line allows him to be.

Expect the Rams to establish their identity as a pass-first, Air Raid offense in Norvell's first game as head coach.

Michigan should see improvement in coverage grades this season as PFF ranks senior D.J. Turner as the sixth-best cornerback in the country.

Turner pairs up with Gemon Green on the boundaries. Green entered last season as the team's fringe No. 1 corner and has 12 starts to his credit and 29 appearances.

Mike Sainristil could be the most intriguing defensive piece to watch during the non-conference as he switched from wide receiver to corner. He played both sides in high school, and I believe he should've shown up as a corner. The time has finally come, and the reports are encouraging.

Two things should worry you about Michigan's defense against an Air Raid offense.

1. Michigan has three safeties rotating: Rod Moore, RJ Moten, and Makari Paige. Moore and Moten could be stars. Paige's story is unique in that he played significantly more as a true freshman than a sophomore. Of course, Michigan's decision to move on from Don Brown meant Paige and the rest of the defense had a fresh slate. Last year, the Wolverines had two sure things in Dax Hill & Brad Hawkins -- proven studs throughout their college careers who returned for a final season in 2021. Moore & Moten are undoubtedly good, but can they provide the overtop help against an Air Raid offense that Hill & Hawkins did? And if there is a fall-off, is it marginal? Or worse? My guess is that Moore will be better overtop than Hawkins, but there's no replacing Dax.

2. Like Dax Hill, there's no replacing Aidan Hutchinson & David Ojabo. Michigan doesn't have the pure pass rushers it had last year. But it still has a complex scheme that confuses defenses with multiple looks and disguises. Can new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter take the baton from Mike Macdonald and create pressure without two NFL edge rushers? Without pressure on the quarterback, the Air Raid becomes a potential nightmare for a defense.

The Rams only shot at beating Michigan's defense is playing to their style and unloading the clip downfield, underneath, and everywhere else there is space.

Still, it's hard to believe it will be enough to overcome the top-tier cornerback play and Michigan's linebackers' coverage abilities. More importantly, a defensive line that includes the No. 1 freak in college football is a helluva first task for an offensive line playing its first game together.

We'll talk about this again soon. The Maryland game is near.

The defense had three key transfers: Angel King (Nevada), CJ Onyechi (Rutgers), and Chigozie Anusiem (Cal).

The defense is far less transfer-heavy than the offense. It didn't need many. Colorado State had a top 60 defense in the country last season, according to SP+, and 11 upperclassmen starters in 2022, seven of which are returners.

Norvell's staff should blend right in. Last season, they led a Nevada defense that led the Mountain West in turnover margin. Defensive coordinator Freddie Banks, who players regard as a guru, came over from Montana State, where his defense was top 20 in FCS in turnovers forced.

Banks runs a 4-2-5, which is a defensive scheme any modern-day Michigan fan should remember.

The defense wants to be aggressive and has the personnel with a rotation of up to 11 defensive linemen. As a turnover-driven system, it's aggressive and prone to allowing big plays. The experience is on the d-line, but the influx of transfers shored up a lack of experience in the defensive back room.

Oddly enough, Banks credited Michigan State DC Scottie Hazelton for inspiring the basis of his defensive scheme, which centers around the phrase "execution, speed, and effort."

The spring game had minimal highlights, though it included at least two takeaways for the defense. So our best reference is to look back at Banks' defense at Montana State.

On top of being a top-tier defense in takeaways, they had the sixth-best scoring defense in the FCS division.

Banks has only one year under his belt at a place far from the Big House. But he's got the makeup of a future star if his defenses continue to disrupt at the rate they did in his first season.

Michigan's offensive line should be the difference in a number of its games this season.

However, the depth of skill positions makes it a more fearful unit than ever under Jim Harbaugh.

From Ronnie Bell to Cornelius Johnson to Andrel Anthony to A.J. Henning to Roman Wilson and -- Payton O'Leary? -- the Wolverines have no shortage of breakout wideouts. Additionally, both running backs, Blake Corum & Donovan Edwards, should match up well with a 4-2-5 defense that will have trouble containing their speed on outside runs and catching the ball out of the backfield.

New co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, a quarterbacks coach last year, is teaming up with o-line coach Sherrone Moore to build a balanced and adaptable unit.

Titled a run-first offense, Michigan led the nation in explosive plays last season under Josh Gattis. While the offense isn't changing much, Weiss' time in Baltimore included a run-heavy scheme built on the strength of the offensive line with a lot of play-action and RPO designs. We saw his influence last year in how often J.J. McCarthy kept the ball. Weiss' effect on the offense should only increase with his elevated role.

The Wolverines have all the weapons to terrorize a 4-2-5 defense that can't get home, which makes the offensive line an X-Factor in this matchup.

With turnover creators on the defense in a scheme that designs itself around forcing them, Michigan's quarterback battle is an advantageous feature of Saturday's game for the Rams.

Fighting for the starting job, if Cade McNamara or J.J. McCarthy try to play hero ball, you'll see turnovers on the board for Michigan.

Still, it's hard to see Colorado State giving Michigan's stout offensive line enough problems to jeopardize the game.

Colorado State hired its first dedicated special teams coach when Norvell hired Tommy Perry to his staff.

Cayden Camper is the kicker and a returner who had an excellent 2021. Paddy Turner is a punter from Australia who's only been in America for seven months and hasn't played football before. There's a transfer starter at long snapper as well.

Last season, the Rams ranked near the bottom in several coverage categories on special teams. Over the last several years, special teams have been a problem for the program.

There may be improvement with their first dedicated coach on that side of the ball.

Against Michigan's unit that blocked multiple punts last year and returned many impact players on special teams, the renaissance of Colorado State's special teams will have to wait another week.

---

Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards

Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer

Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @BrandonJustice_, @RivalsLibby, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @DavisMoseley, @lucasreimink, @ritchietmr

Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify

Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube

Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram