Michigan has a chance to steady itself this week, but only if it handles the matchup it should control from the opening snap.
After a 4-3 start and the most demoralizing loss of the season, the Wolverines head into Rutgers with a clear path: lean on the run game, settle Tommy Carr down, and keep the defense locked in. That’s the formula on paper, anyway.
Rutgers is not Indiana. The Scarlet Knights are expected to finish near the bottom of the conference, they have one of the worst defenses in college football, and their offense will be without its top two players.
The biggest edge for Michigan is obvious. The run game has been a problem all season, with the Wolverines sitting 101st in rushing yards per game, and last week’s showing against Indiana did nothing to fix that.
But Rutgers gives them a real opening. The Scarlet Knights are ranked 127th in the country against the run, allowing more than 200 rushing yards per game and more than six yards per carry.
Opponents are averaging about 35 rushing attempts against them, and Michigan should have every reason to lean into that number with Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter.
If Jason Beck stays with what works and keeps pounding between the tackles, this is the kind of defense Michigan can punish. Hiter and Marshall should be central to that effort, and Michigan has to make the ground game look functional, if not dominant. If it can’t win that battle, the rest of the afternoon barely matters.
Carr is the other piece that needs a lift. He’s getting a second start, and last week gave Michigan a little bit of everything: freshman mistakes, flashes of growth, and some composed moments when he escaped pressure and hit JJ Buchanan and Channing Goodwin in the second half. He was also just short on a final throw to Salesi Moa that nearly became another big play.
This game gives Carr a softer landing spot and a chance to keep building. That matters because he looks likely to be Michigan’s starter the rest of the season unless injury intervenes, and the Wolverines will need him ready for Michigan State, Oregon, UCLA, and Ohio State down the stretch. He has to carry more confidence into that stretch, and Rutgers is the kind of opponent that should help him get there.
At the same time, Michigan’s defense can’t drift. That unit did everything it could last week and still walked off the field with a loss.
Indiana didn’t score a touchdown in regulation, and the Hoosiers’ only points came off Michigan turnovers or from a drive that began at the 25 because of college football’s overtime rules. Afterward, Zeke Berry put it bluntly: “We did everything we could,” Zeke Berry said after the team lost 13-6 despite the brilliance from Michigan’s defense.
That’s the trap for the Wolverines now. It would be easy for the defense to wonder what the point is if the offense keeps sputtering.
But Michigan can’t afford that mindset. The defense has to keep dragging this team along because, given how this offense has looked, it may be the only realistic way to win most of the games left on the schedule.
And this week, that burden gets a little lighter. Rutgers will be missing its top weapon and its starting quarterback. Michigan still has a narrow margin for error, but this is the kind of opponent that should let the Wolverines sharpen the very areas they need most before the season turns into its toughest stretch.
In Other News...
Michigan Enters Rutgers With Two Availability Questions Fans Will Watch
Michigan heads into Rutgers with a few notable availability questions still hanging over the lineup, most of them on the defensive side and up front. Starting right tackle Blake Frazier is questionable after sitting out the previous game, while safety Rod Moore is in the same category along with Jordan Young and Enow Etta. On the brighter side, linebacker Troy Bowles and center Jake Guarnera are both listed as probable, which gives Michigan at least some stability as it prepares for a road test.
The matchup also comes with its own set of injury concerns on the other sideline, since Rutgers will be without starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan and leading receiver KJ Duff. For Michigan, the bigger issue is still how much it can count on its own depth, especially if Frazier remains unavailable and the secondary keeps shifting around. Those final availability calls could shape how the Wolverines manage the game plan once kickoff arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Heads To Rutgers With Its Identity Under Real Pressure
Michigan heads to Rutgers still searching for a cleaner version of itself after the overtime loss to Indiana, and the questions around this team go well beyond one rough afternoon. The quarterback situation remains unsettled, the rushing game has not looked like the reliable anchor Michigan usually leans on, and the offense is still trying to sort out what changes fit best under the new coordinator. Even the line, long a point of pride in Ann Arbor, has become part of the conversation as the Wolverines try to turn more drives into something more sustainable.
Rutgers offers a chance to reset a few of those storylines, at least on paper. The Scarlet Knights have been one of the countrys weaker run defenses, which should give Michigan a path to simplify things and play to its strengths if it can finally do so consistently. The bigger question is whether the Wolverines can carry that opportunity into a steadier performance after a stretch of close losses that has started to test the teams confidence as much as its execution. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Has A Troubling Availability Question Ahead Of Rutgers
Michigan heads into its meeting with Rutgers with a few important moving parts on the availability report, and the most notable ones sit right in the middle of the roster. Safety Rod Moore is among the players listed as questionable, while left tackle Andrew Sprague has already been ruled out, leaving the Wolverines to sort through some real uncertainty on both sides of the ball as the week unfolds.
There is at least a little balance to the injury picture, since Rutgers is dealing with its own issues, including a missing starting quarterback and a doubtful top receiver. Still, Michigans focus is on who it can count on, and safeties coach Tyler Stocktons recent comments on Moores status only added to the sense that this is a situation worth watching right up until kickoff. [Read more 🡒]