Nine months after its loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff, the No. 2 Michigan football team is back at it. The long offseason giving way to an afternoon at the Big House, intrasquad scrimmages giving way to a real opponent. East Carolina is a little less formidable of an opponent than 2022 national runners up in the Horned Frogs, but it is a squad coming off an 8-4 season out of the American Athletic Conference, which included a Birmingham Bowl win over Coastal Carolina. The Pirates signed a deal guaranteeing $1.8 million to play this game, but they’ve got an X marked on Ann Arbor, traveling north seeking more treasure: a program-altering upset. To read more about the three things to watch for in the Wolverines’ season-opener against East Carolina, click the link in our bio. ✍️: Paul Nasr 📸: katehuaphotography