Michigan heads into Halloween weekend trying to steady itself after a third loss, and the trip to Rutgers gives the Wolverines a chance to reset in a 12:30 p.m. kickoff in New Jersey. It’s only their second road game of the season, and they’ll face a Scarlet Knights team that is 2-5 overall and 1-3 in conference play, with its lone Big Ten victory coming against Maryland, 37-30.
The defense is not the issue here. Michigan has been excellent on that side of the ball, and that part of the game isn’t where the concern lives.
The offense is where the alarm bells are going off.
There is too much talent on that side for the production to look this thin, and the Indiana game made that point painfully clear. If Michigan had found even a little offense, that game would have gone the other way. Instead, the Wolverines didn’t score a touchdown and finished with only 224 total yards.
That kind of output is not enough against quality opponents, and it’s especially jarring for a program that has long leaned on the ground game as a safety net. The run game has usually been the constant in Michigan football. This year, it hasn’t been there.
Last week told the story. The Wolverines ran for just 57 yards on 42 carries, with Jordan Marshall leading the team at 26 yards. That’s a brutal number, no matter how you slice it.
The bigger question is how much of that comes down to personnel and how much comes down to how the offense is being called. Fans and analysts keep pointing to the same issue: Michigan keeps bouncing runs to the edge, and it isn’t working.
When the Wolverines stay between the tackles and go downhill, the results are better. The choice to keep leaning away from that puts Jason Beck and the playcalling under the microscope.
This matchup should offer a cleaner lane. Rutgers is allowing nearly 200 rushing yards per game, which means Michigan ought to clear 150 on the ground as a team if things are functioning properly. If that doesn’t happen, that’s a problem.
And there’s a bigger backdrop to all of this. Michigan has dropped three of its last four games, the College Football Playoff picture is effectively gone, and the season is drifting away from what was expected. So the other thing worth watching Saturday is less about scheme and more about response - body language, energy, and whether the urgency matches the situation when the game starts.
In Other News...
Bryce Underwood Could Force A Tough Michigan Decision Soon
Bryce Underwoods path at Michigan has already taken an unexpected turn, with the former five-star quarterback recruit getting benched in favor of Tommy Carr after struggling against Penn State. For a program that has spent so much time building around quarterback stability, the situation has quickly become one of the more intriguing personnel questions on the roster, especially with Underwood still carrying the kind of athletic profile that can tempt a staff to find another way to use him.
Michigan has not made any official decision about a position change, and no approach has been set in stone, but the idea is clearly on the table as the Wolverines sort through their quarterback situation. Underwoods future role now feels like one of those early-season decisions that can shape more than just depth-chart order, because if the staff decides his best path is somewhere other than quarterback, it would say plenty about where things stand behind center. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Escaped Rutgers But The Real Frustrations Arent Going Away
Michigan got what it needed against Rutgers, but not in the cleanest way. The Wolverines squeezed out a 28-21 win after letting a late-game lead slip away long enough to make things uncomfortable, even with Tommy Carr turning in a strong night through the air and on the ground. His 266 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns gave Michigan enough punch to survive, but the overall feel of the game was less about control than escape.
For a program that still has bigger ambitions in the 2026 season, the concerns did not disappear with the final whistle. The defense had stretches where Rutgers found room to answer, including the fourth-quarter tie that briefly changed the tone of the night, and the offense again left questions about consistency and coaching direction. A win is a win, but this one did little to quiet the frustration around how Michigan is being put together week to week. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Fans Still Have One Big Question About This Team
Michigans football profile has drawn a mixed bag of reaction lately, with praise from some corners and sharp criticism from others. Utah State coach Bronco Mendenhall singled out offensive coordinator Jason Beck for the work being done on that side of the ball, while former Michigan players and analysts have pushed back on Kyle Whittinghams coaching style and the way he has handled his public comments.
Greg Schiano added another layer to the conversation by calling Michigans defense elite and pointing to several of its key players as the reason for that reputation. For fans, the contrast is what makes the bigger question linger: if the defense is playing at that level and the offense is drawing positive notice, why does the overall picture around the program still feel so unsettled? [Read more 🡒]