There’s no question that Michigan football is an institution largely resistant to change, and what happened in the Big House Saturday was not even remotely a Schembechler-esque performance — if we can use the famous coach’s name as an adjective.

The offense was way too fast-paced and flashy for the man who obsessed over field position and time of possession.

The crowd was having way too much fun with the newly installed loudspeaker music — including the well-timed rendition of “Don’t Stop Believing” — for Bo, who never wanted to change anything about Michigan’s game-day pageantry.

And the Wolverines, who sprinted to the student section to celebrate and sing The Victors for the first time since Sept. 27, 2008, were way too relieved and excited to beat a Mid-American Conference team. They would have been told by the coach to act like they’d been there before.

During the longest offseason in the last 30-plus years, any talk about Michigan football was near apocalyptic. The end of an era. Time to pick up the pieces.

But with everything that was different, it still felt like a fall Saturday in Michigan Stadium.

“This game, it’s going to go to everybody’s film room, and everybody’s going to watch it,” safety Troy Woolfolk said. “(Every) team is going to see that we’re back, the old Michigan is back, and we’re ready for a big season.”

The Old Michigan, on the scoreboard, at least. No three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust. Without the mindset that the forward pass might as well still be illegal.

The atmosphere at the Big House, which was sorely lacking last season, was also back. Especially after the game when fans cheered “Beat the Irish” as the team sang the fight song in front of the student section.

Last season, the game against Ohio State almost seemed dreaded. This year, the swagger surrounding rivalry games (lest we forget the “Little Brother” antics of Mike Hart) is already back in full force.

“I can’t wait — we owe them. We owe them,” running back Mike Shaw said when asked about Notre Dame and the Wolverines' 35-17, six-turnover thumping last season. He grinned and ran into the tunnel of Michigan Stadium to undoubtedly celebrate in the deservedly raucous home-team locker room.

All offseason, the team has talked about buying into the new Michigan. On Saturday, the fans proved they’ve done so, too. It’s a huge step in restoring Rich Rodriguez's’ program.

I was concerned with how Michigan fans would respond to Rodriguez after everything that’s happened in the last week or so. How would a fanbase not used to anything but success react to a coach who’s seen anything but that since coming to Michigan?

As I walked from my house near East Quad a few hours before the game, the answer was made crystal clear — Wolverine nation is backing its coach.

The pro-Rich Rod paraphernalia ranged from the serious:

The enormous “In Rod We Trust” banner flown by the tunnel in the stadium.

To the outraged:

A minivan park at Ann Arbor Pioneer displayed a sign that read, “Boycott the Free Press NOW.”

To the ridiculous:

A sign read “(Free Press writer Mike) Rosenberg Punches Dolphins” at the BOX House on State Street.

And after Tate Forcier’s third touchdown pass of the day — a beautifully thrown, 44-yard bomb to Junior Hemingway — the 109,019 fans in attendance officially made their support for Rodriguez known. All throughout the stadium, a chant of the coach’s name became louder and louder.

“It’s amazing the support that we’ve gotten,” Rodriguez said. “And they can say my name but it’s really to Michigan. We talked all week about winning and winning for Michigan.”

— Reid can be reached at andyreid@umich.edu.