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On paper, in some ways, Utah and Michigan are not so different.

You'd expect both to hang their hats on physical play in the trenches. Both have depth in the front seven and running backs capable of fighting for tough yards against deep front sevens.

Both have quarterbacks who are unlikely to appear on as many promos as quarterbacks usually do. Both have stables of young receivers who have yet to make much of a mark on the college game.

And we'll get our first good look Thursday at both teams' punt and kick returners.

But in other ways they're worlds apart.

Michigan is away. Utah is at home.

Jim Harbaugh is in his first year as Michigan's head coach. Kyle Whittingham is in his 11th as Utah's.

Michigan most recently went 5-7 as Brady Hoke's seat went from "hot" to "ashes." Utah is fresh off a 9-4 season that eliminated many doubts about the current staff.

Michigan has new kickers and punters. Utah has Ray Guy winner Tom Hackett and Lou Groza semifinalist Andy Phillips.

And so on.

The differences seem to stack in Utah's favor, and that's why Utah's favored by five.

But if they look closely enough, even the most optimistic Utah fans will see enough of their own team in Michigan to feel some anxiety about Thursday's opener.

Utah's 26-10 victory in 2014 aside, the Wolverines aren't cupcakes, either.

Time, Place and [Radio Waves in] Space • Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. MT at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The game will air nationally on Fox Sports 1, called by Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Molly McGrath, and on radio dials in Utah at ESPN 700 and nationally at Sports USA.

Opposing Coach • If you've missed this somehow, it was likely due to an intentional effort. But in case it wasn't: Harbaugh had unprecedented success at San Diego, revitalized Stanford and then led San Francisco to three straight NFC Championships and a Super Bowl before, it seems, wearing out his welcome. He's a "Michigan man," to the delight of Wolverine supporters — the son of a former assistant who grew to become a Heisman finalist quarterback in the maize and blue. And he's famously unusual. Whereas Michigan frequently appears on the StairMaster, Harbaugh has appeared on "Judge Judy" and "Saved by the Bell." It probably says enough about the level of interest in the eccentric coach that Fox Sports GO will have a dedicated "Khaki Cam" trained on him throughout Thursday's game.

Utah Ties • There are more than you might expect. Special teams coordinator John Baxter is the son-in-law of Ron McBride, and Whittingham attended his wedding. Co-starting punter Blake O'Neill graduated from Weber State and transferred to Ann Arbor for this season after enjoying a friendship with fellow ProKick Australia alum Hackett during his time in Utah. Senior backup fullback Sione Houma is a Highland High product, as is sophomore defensive tackle Bryan Mone — though he will miss the season with a broken ankle. Graduate transfer quarterback Jake Rudock, thought to be the likely starter, starred at the same south Florida high school as Utah freshmen Tyson Cisrow and Chris Hart. And Utah junior right tackle J.J. Dielman was born in Michigan before moving to Arizona.

Pregame Quotable • Utah senior linebacker Jared Norris doesn't find humor in khakis. "Everybody is saying the slacks thing. I have no idea what anybody's talking about. I really don't. I didn't know football became a fashion contest."

Media Guide Nugget • Utah became one of only three teams to deal a loss to a debuting Wolverines coach when it beat Rich Rodriguez to kick off an undefeated 2008. New Wolverine coaches are 14-2-1 otherwise. Harbaugh is 0-2, losing at both San Diego and Stanford. Michigan is 16-5-1 all-time in road openers but has gone 2-4-1 in its last seven — the last one in 1998, a 36-20 loss to Notre Dame.

Telling Stat • Michigan's paltry passing efficiency rating of 109.7, 110th in the nation last year, made Utah's attack look like a well-oiled machine by comparison. But at Iowa, Rudock was a respectable 133.5 with 16 touchdowns, five interceptions and 18 sacks. That's a mirror image of Travis Wilson's line: 134.7, 18 touchdowns, five interceptions and 20 sacks.

Wolverines Offensive Outlook • First, the strengths: Michigan's offensive line is battle-tested, including freshman All-American left tackle Mason Cole and 29-game veteran center Graham Glasgow — who at 6'6, 301 pounds is the group's lightest member. The Wolverines also have a trio of big, powerful backs in juniors De'Veon Smith (4.8 yards per carry in 2014), Derrick Green (5.7) and Ty Isaac (5.9 at USC in 2013), all of them 225-plus and running behind 248-pound senior fullback Joe Kerridge or the 242-pound Houma. Add in 545 pounds of blocking tight ends in Khalid Hill and A.J. Williams, and the physical profile is characteristic of a Harbaugh attack. The question is: Who's going to make Utah pay for selling out to stop them? Neither Rudock nor lefty Shane Morris is likely to approximate Andrew Luck or Colin Kaepernick, and the Wolverines can no longer lean on supersized wideout Devin Funchess, who's now a Carolina Panther. Senior Amara Darboh (473 yards in 2014) and junior tight end Jake Butt (211 yards) are the most proven among a physically but not statistically imposing group of targets.

Wolverines Defensive Outlook • Eight starters return from a team that held opponents to the seventh-fewest yards in the nation, so former Florida coordinator D.J. Durkin has a lot to work with. Defensive end Frank Clark is in the NFL, and Mone is out, but what's left is a defense that's still stout up front, especially at linebacker with seniors Joe Bolden, James Ross and Desmond Morgan. The secondary has fewer impressive statistical credentials but is chock full of talent. Sophomore Jabrill Peppers missed the final nine games of last season after being heralded as perhaps the nation's best prospect in the 2014 class. He's healthy now and listed at strong safety, but he can also play corner. Stanford graduate transfer cornerback Wayne Lyons started 22 games for the Cardinal. And junior cornerback Jourdan Lewis, senior safety Jeremy Clark and senior safety Jarrod Wilson (there are a lot of J's in this secondary) are all back after starting games last year. The catch: Those returners are part of a Michigan defense that struggled to generate turnovers in 2014, ranking 123rd with 10 — just five fumbles recovered and five interceptions.

Wolverines Special Teams Outlook • You tell us. There's a lot of uncertainty on special teams, beginning at kicker, where Baxter said the battle between unknowns Kyle Seychel and Kenny Allen will continue through pregame warmups. Allen will likely serve as Michigan's pro-style punter, kicking high spirals from deep in their own territory, while O'Neill will specialize in trying to pin the Utes deep or avoid returner Britain Covey, should Covey prove himself a threat. Utah might see as many as four or five different kick and punt returners: senior wideout Jehu Chesson, junior safety Dymonte Thomas, Lewis and Peppers are leading candidates.

Required Reading

Injury Report • Michigan will be without Mone, linebacker Nick Benda and cornerback Anthony Dalimonte all season. Senior running back Drake Johnson, who rushed for 361 yards on just 60 carries last year, has been cleared to practice after tearing his ACL last year, but he was absent from Michigan's depth chart Monday. Likewise, wideouts Tim Patrick and Raelon Singleton were not included on Utah's depth chart, and their status is unknown. Senior cornerback Ahmad Christian remains out with an Achilles tear, and sophomore running back Troy McCormick is lost for the season due to a torn ACL in spring camp.

Three Big Questions

1. Who among Utah's wideouts can take the pressure off Booker and Scott? • As in the GOP presidential field, there's no shortage of candidates. Covey, Tyrone Smith and Siaosi Wilson may all get early opportunities as true freshmen. Sophomore junior college transfer Kyle Fulks has speed to spare in the slot. Senior running back convert Bubba Poole has proven he can make tacklers miss in space. Junior Delshawn McClellon and sophomore Kenric Young have been common downfield targets in practice the past two years. But have they all been equally good, or have none of them been good enough to plainly stand out? Options are nice, but so are no-brainers.

2. How will Utah's outside corners hold up in their first starts? • Or, in Reginald Porter's case, his third start, but first in two years. Porter, junior college transfer Cory Butler-Byrd and junior backup Brian Allen are thought to make a capable top three, but they have just 11 tackles between them. We won't know for sure how sorely Utah is missing Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Eric Rowe and dismissed junior Dominique Hatfield until Thursday — and even then, given Michigan's apparently pedestrian passing game, we may be left to wonder somewhat.

3. Can Utah's offensive line keep the pressure off the quarterback? • It's been billed as a strength of this year's Utah offense, with four starters returning and the fifth, Tevi, showing a great deal of promise despite his defensive background. Some of the Utah's stats last season were alarming though — particularly 7.62 tackles for loss allowed per game, 121st in the nation. Michigan's defense, meanwhile, averaged 6.8 tackles per loss, good for 29th. The Wolverines are a good test for the integrity of Jim Harding's group and its ability to make life easier for Wilson and Booker. If life is good for those two, it's good for Utah.

— Matthew Piper

mpiper@sltrib.com

Twitter: @matthew_piper