After a serious hiccup last week against Massachusetts, the Wolverines know their defense will have to be significantly better with Big Ten season just on the horizon.

With Bowling Green coming to the Big House this weekend, Michigan gets another test game before the Big Ten conference season starts next weekend against Indiana.

Luckily for the Wolverines, Falcons' quarterback Matt Schilz will miss the game with a shoulder injury. In addition, speedy running back Willie Geter has struggled in Bowling Green's first three games. But these Michigan players, especially those on defense, won't be getting too ahead of themselves when it comes to a lesser opponent.

Michigan pass offense vs. Bowling Green pass defense

In all the doom and gloom from last weekend, the good news was that sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson got a chance to display his passing skills Robinson passed for 241 yards and two touchdowns against the Minutemen on just 10 completions.

The Falcons have allowed more than 30 points per game and have been even worse than the Wolverines on the other side of the ball this season. On paper, Michigan should be able to carve the Bowling Green secondary like a jack-o-lantern, but the Wolverines are a young team that could be inconsistent, as we saw last weekend against Massachusetts.

That being said, I fully expect Robinson to improve on his passing yards from last weekend. But who knows, he may not even be in the game that long.

Edge: Michigan

Michigan rush offense vs. Bowling Green rush defense

Junior running back Mike Shaw had his breakout performance last week, scampering to a career high in touchdowns and yards. And you can bet that Shaw will get plenty of chances to improve on that this weekend.

The coaching staff said they hoped to integrate freshman Stephen Hopkins and redshirt sophomore Mike Cox, at the very least, at some point against Massachusetts but never got the chance to do so. They may get the call this week, and we should still see sophomore Vincent Smith as well. So it should be a true committee showing this week.

The Falcons are nothing to write home about on the defensive interior, and the Wolverines should be able to run with relative ease.

Plus, there's that Denard Robinson fellow who tends to run the ball quite a bit.

Edge: Michigan

Bowling Green pass offense vs. Michigan pass defense

Another week, another hold-your-breath game for the Michigan secondary. The Falcons won't have their starter, but Aaron Pankratz, the backup, should have an interesting matchup with an underachieving, yet ornery secondary.

Pankratz will probably be the least skilled quarterback the Wolverines have seen this year (Kyle Havens looked good last weekend), but you can't expect Michigan to compete very often this year in this category.

If there is a week the Wolverines win this battle, it's this week though after underachieving against the Minutemen. Regardless, this should be a close battle with the Falcons just pulling it out.

Edge: Bowling Green

Bowling Green rush offense vs. Michigan rush defense

Bowling Green's running back, Willie Geter, has an interesting combination of tools, but so far this season, he hasn't been able to put them all together in one game. Geter leads one of the worst rushing attacks in the nation into Ann Arbor.

But the Wolverines have been pretty bad defending the run this year, letting Massachusetts pair of backs dominate their linebackers all game.