Michigan receiver Roy Roundtree, right, looks back at teammate Vladimir Emilien before leaving him in his wake en route to a 97-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Denard Robinson on Saturday. (Photo: Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com)

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson just threaded another pass for a touchdown. The fans cheered. The media scribbled notes. Points - arbitrary as they were during the Michigan football team’s game Saturday afternoon - were awarded.

Not trying to put a damper on things here, but what some 35,000 fans saw on a cold, blustery day at Michigan Stadium didn’t add up to much.

Was Robinson, who was clearly the offensive star of the day, really that good? Or was it because he played virtually all of his snaps against Michigan’s second-team defense on a day where the offensive and defensive first teams didn’t line up against each other?

So to glean anything out of Saturday is tough at best and silly at worst. To make assumptions off of one practice - and really, that’s what fans saw Saturday - is borderline silly.

The quarterback competition, as Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said after the scrimmage, is wide open. Same at running back and almost everywhere else.

Bits and pieces can be discerned - for instance, Michigan is in real trouble kicking and punting - but let's avoid any sweeping proclamations about this team.

For the Michigan players and coaches, not much changed from what happens multiple times a week outside Schembechler Hall. Perhaps, it was even less informative than a normal practice, especially the way the Wolverines ran it. There was very little trickery - just a Tate Forcier pooch punt that Michigan has shown in games before - and the offense and defensive schemes were vanilla.

Players shuffled in and out, getting more repetitions and, save for the freshman or sophomore who hadn’t played in front of a big crowd before, it is a lot like another practice.

That’s not a criticism. That’s expected.

The biggest bonus, at least from what Rodriguez hinted, was what the players showed without constant coaching on the field.

Saturday was about Michigan’s fans. They could watch practice for free - better than at Florida and Notre Dame, which charge money for the event - and it became one giant pep rally with football plays.

Again, not surprising.

Hence the good cause breaks in play to introduce children from the Mott Children’s Hospital, which gained $300,000 in donations Saturday. Or that the band, at times, played throughout extra points and plays.

But what can be really read out of it? Well, ask one of Michigan’s players. “Uh, really, um …,” safety Vladimir Emilien said. “Yeah, we try to play our butts off. We don’t want to make ourselves look like fools.

“Everybody plays their butt off no matter what, but come August, you’re going to see the real deal.”

In August, a lot will look different. For Michigan’s sake, it better.

As good as Robinson and wide receiver Roy Roundtree and linebacker Obi Ezeh looked, much of what Michigan did wasn’t the crispest.

After 15 practices, it shouldn’t. Rodriguez said as much. He saw positives. And he saw things that need work.

“Probably not as many answers as I would like to have,” Rodriguez said. “But probably as many as you’d normally expect. Mostly positive. A few concerns, but every coach in America will probably tell you at the end of spring they have a few concerns.

“I have a few, but I feel a lot more positives.”

In other words, don’t get too excited or upset yet. About anything.

There’s a long, long way to go.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.