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Former Michigan safety and Big Ten Network broadcaster Marcus Ray talks about the season opener with senior editor John Borton.

Ray takes a thorough look at the Wolverines' ups and downs against the Gators, and why they had enough to win going away, even given significant first-week foibles.

Here's the podcast…

Here are some highlights from the podcast. Ray talked about…

• Overcoming first-week mistakes: "It was typical first-week stuff — there are going to be turnovers, penalties, missed tackles, special teams blunders. It just happens in week one, especially when you play an opponent that's on your level.

"I was pleased to see Michigan was able to take some adversity early on. It's something they're going to need to overcome in their tough schedule. Florida has some work to do, too. Both teams got some plays on tape that they like, and some plays they need to improve."

• Michigan's defensive effort: "Michigan's defense played outstanding, collectively, flying around, getting to the ball, getting the quarterback on the ground, and trying to prevent big plays. It seemed like they had a good understanding of the game plan … there were things Michigan's defense did as far as lining up right, playing fast, getting their hands on the football, scoring points. That's the kind of stuff you want to see.

"Defensive wins championships. I give a ton of credit to [defensive coordinator] Don Brown and his staff for having those guys ready to play. They pretty much bottled up Florida. I know [defensive line coach] Greg Mattison likes to preach stop the run and don't give up any big plays, and I'm sure Don Brown does, too."

• Sophomore linebacker Devin Bush Jr. and his effort: "I thought he played with great speed and intensity. Obviously, he adds another dimension to Michigan's linebacking corps, because he can blitz. He's a step faster. He's kind of undersized at 5-11, 230, but he's a Florida guy, he plays fast, his father played fast at Florida State. He comes from great stock.

"I've seen some fast linebackers over the years, and he's definitely one of them. I thought guys like Larry Foote and Ian Gold … Ian Gold was the fastest guy on our team, when he played. Michigan is just getting back to having the type of players in there that won championships and give them the chance to beat people like Florida."

• Sophomore viper Khaleke Hudson: "Khaleke Hudson did an excellent job … that viper position is a system, playmaking, plug-and-play kind of deal, where if a guy has the skill set and you put him in that position, he should play well. Don Brown's defense features that position, in blitzing, run support and some coverage aspects.

"Khaleke's a good player. I think he's a natural for that spot — that hybrid, nickel back, linebacker, cornerback is what it is. I thought Khaleke did well."

• Michigan's offense: "The offense ran the ball well. They did some good things. I don't know if they blocked particularly well on every play, but those running backs — [fifth-year senior tailback Ty] Isaac and [junior tailback Karan] Higdon and [sophomore tailback Chris] Evans made some stuff happen on their own, once they got past the initial line of scrimmage.

"It was good to see two running backs have, at one point, over 50 yards each. I know Isaac had 11 carries for more than 100 yards, and that's powerful. One of the biggest runs he had was on third-and-13 on the draw play. Play-calling helped. Jim [Harbaugh] and his staff knew Florida was going to be in certain defenses, and they exposed them, and the player did what the player does.

"As far as the turnovers, that's going to happen. Tips and overthrows. When you see interceptions, normally it's because of a tipped pass or an overthrown ball. That's about 90 percent of interceptions on all levels, unless a guy just makes a great, outstanding play.

"The first one should have been caught. It looked like [redshirt junior quarterback] Wilton [Speight] pushed the second one, and you could tell he was kind of out of rhythm after the first pick-six. It's more mental than anything. He kind of lost his mechanics and got caught up in the moment, got a little gun-shy and he just overshot it. It wasn't a good ball.

"When you play against better teams, like Ohio State last year, when they got the pick-six and those turnovers … good teams don't let you come back from that. Michigan has to eliminate those, if they want to achieve their goals."

• Freshman wide receiver Tarik Black: "Let me tell you something. I think Tarik Black is the best receiver on that team. Period. Point blank. It's not up for discussion.

"He's a big-play guy. He's a big target. He goes up and goes for the football. They took a touchdown away from that young man on fourth down with a bad call by the officials.

"He made a big play on the shake route, where you stem them on the post, fake the post-corner, and then break it back to the post. That's an NFL route. Harbaugh and his guys are coming up with things that college players don't normally see.

"The shake route is hard to defend as a safety. It causes a lot of confusion."

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