We were supposed to be counting down the final days to the start of Michigan’s 2020 season this week. We were supposed to be tracking several different storylines about how the Wolverines would look in their opener this week. We were supposed to be previewing how Michigan would match up vs. Washington (or Purdue) and whether U-M would begin the year with a big win.

But alas. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both of Michigan’s season-openers against the Huskies and then the Boilermakers were canceled, and the Big Ten is currently not scheduled to play any football this fall, which has become a fluid, polarizing situation. Instead, we are left to ponder when will be the next time that Michigan is able to run out of the tunnel and glide onto the gridiron.

Given that Michigan was supposed to participate in its season-opener this Saturday, I thought it would be fun to look back at the last 50 years and rank the 10 best Michigan individual performances in the first game of the season. When assessing these performances, I gave more weight to those that came in wins over losses and against higher-quality opponents rather than pushovers. Also, certain individual defensive stats before 2000, such as tackles for loss and forced fumbles, were not readily available or tracked, so there is a possibility that some earlier individual defensive performances from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s may have been overlooked as a result.

The Wolverines on this list shined in their first effort of the year, whether it was in a tune-up, in a valiant losing effort, in an exhilarating win or to kick off a Heisman Trophy campaign. Without further ado, here are the 10 best Michigan individual performances in a season-opener since 1970: