Michigan 31, Western Michigan 7: Here's your guide to our coverage of yesterday's game

From the poised play of his quarterbacks to the defensive buzzsaw that emerged, Rich Rodriguez himself probably could not have envisioned a more perfect season opener.

The day's highlights probably start with Forcier, the true freshman who drove Michigan down the field for a touchdown on his first drive, and in doing so, probably wrested control of the starting QB job and quieted the competition, writes Michael Rothstein.

Forcier found a rhythm with up-and-coming receiver Junior Hemingway, who missed last season with a bout of mono, but caught five passes for 105 yards, including two for scores. Rothstein has the details on Hemingway's big day.

It was also a big day for Rodriguez, who said earlier that he endured the most "miserable" week of his coaching career amid allegations of NCAA violations and the filing of a lawsuit against him that ties him to a banned booster.

Michigan's fans, who have been divided over Rich Rod before, stood behind him like never before during Saturday's game. Pete Bigelow has the story on the uniting fan base.

There's more coverage of the game in Jim Knight's notes from the press box. In those, you'll learn about the early returns in the kicking competition, the status of Brandon Minor and perhaps who had the best seat in the Big House.

From the Western Michigan perspective, the game was a huge disappointment, writes Scott DeCamp of the Kalamazoo Gazette. Tim Hiller was supposed to be the poised QB veteran in the game, but was knocked out of any sort of rhythm early on.

Michigan dominated in nearly every statistical category, and it shows in the final stat package here.

Beyond the football field Saturday:

AnnArbor.com's Kaleb Roedel checked in with fans to get their impressions on the stadium renovations, which won't officially be complete until 2010. He's got a story here and video here that also asks a question a lot of people have asked: Is it any louder in there?

Photographers Lon Horwedel and Melanie Maxwell have a nice photo gallery, complete with their best shots from Saturday's action.

If you missed our live chat during the game, you can revisit how the blowout developed, blow by blow, by giving it a quick read. We hope you'll join us for next week's chat during the Michigan-Notre Dame game.

For a little flavor of Ann Arbor around the game, be sure to check out James Dixon's story about the parking situation at the Ann Arbor Golf and Outing Club, which had been a hot topic over the summer after changes in parking policies.

And if you want to check out the post-game tailgate scene, you've got to see some of the fans here fired up for next week's Notre Dame game.