Posted by: Chris Vannini on August 9, 2012

Michigan's season-openers have been noteworthy in recent years. From upsets to strange finishes, there always seems to be something that sticks out in the opener for the Wolverines.

This year, it's not going to be a surprise, as Michigan begins the year against Alabama in Cowboys Stadium on Sept. 1. The Wolverines haven't opened the season against a ranked team since 2002. The headline opener has picked up the urgency early in this year's fall camp, Brady Hoke told The Scott Van Pelt Show.

"I think it does. All of us as coaches, we want that first game," he said. "You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so I think all first games do that. Having a great challenge and an opportunity to play the reigning national champs, and they have a storied history tradition, we do, playing in that stadium down in Arlington is going to be a lot of fun."

In 2007, Michigan was upset by Appalachian State. In 2008, Utah won in Ann Arbor en route to an undefeated season. In 2010, a player's brother led the team onto the field after rehabbing from a tragic car accident. Last year, Hoke's debut as head coach was cut short by torrential rains.

The urgency is there, but you can't start too fast. On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Al Borges had a funny term for the early practicing without pads.

"They're just running around in shorts," he said. "Until somebody's going to hit somebody and somebody's going to do something, it's really just kind of glorified aerobics in a lot of ways. I hate to put it that way, but you know, we have a few kids run pretty good."

You can tell Borges it itching to get the pads on and start the physical play. But every team starts out with "glorified aerobics."

Click here for audio of Hoke's interview and below is video of Borges' press conference.

___________________________________

Chris Vannini is a lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com