Urban Meyer didn’t hold back when Michigan’s offense came up, and Jason Beck ended up taking the brunt of it.
On The Triple Option, the former Ohio State coach took aim at Beck’s decision-making and said the Wolverines’ quarterback should be able to bail out of bad calls. Meyer pointed directly to what he sees as avoidable mistakes in the run game, especially when Michigan put itself in bad situations against out-leveraged defenses.
“I know him a little bit. I met him a few times, and he did good at New Mexico and at Utah, but it just doesn't look good,” Meyer said on 'The Triple Option'.
"They're running plays that, like -- to me, offensive football is numbers and leverage, period. Numbers and leverage.
"When you have a five and a nine or outside leverage techniques, and you run a jet sweep for minus five yards, the quarterback's got to get you out of that play. And I was talking to Brady -- Brady Quinn, he doesn't think he does. Those are, once again, questions for the Wolverines to figure out.
"But when I see bad plays that you can blame that tailback or their handoff or even the offensive line on that -- that was a minus five on a jet sweep run into out-leveraged defense. Why?
That's one of those, like, whoa, whoa, whoa. From the sideline, if I saw that and our quarterback didn't get it, I'm screaming timeout because it's second-and-15.
"I don't care what you do. It's second-and-15.
So when I see stuff like that, you're like, no, that's not Bryce Underwood, or that's not Tommy Carr. It's not the tailback."
Meyer also said he was baffled by the idea that a quarterback would not have the freedom to get Michigan out of a bad play.
"If a quarterback does not have access to get you out of a bad play, that's to me, that's like I'm scratching my head right now," Meyer said. "Several times in that game, they should have never ran that play."
Rob Stone and Mark Ingram were discussing Beck and Michigan’s defense when Meyer jumped back in with more criticism of the offense. His message was the same: too many plays should never have been called in the first place.
The frustration around Beck is already loud among Michigan fans, and it’s easy to see why. Kyle Whittingham brought him with him from Utah to Ann Arbor, and Michigan is paying Beck well to run the offense. But the results have been rough.
Michigan is 4-3, the offense ranks No. 130 in the country, and the Wolverines still haven’t found a quarterback solution after trying to switch at the position. The run game has also continued to disappoint under Beck.
Whittingham said Monday that it’s not time to panic, but the pressure isn’t going anywhere. Beck appears likely to stay on for at least this season, though if Michigan’s slide continues, Whittingham will keep facing questions about his staff choices and whether he has to make tougher changes to calm the noise. There’s already chatter that Whittingham could be one-and-done, and the coming stretch may force some decisions.
In Other News...
Michigans Next AD Could Decide More Than Wolverines Fans Realize
Warde Manuels decision to step down at the end of December has put Michigan into the kind of search that tends to ripple well beyond the athletic department. The Wolverines are looking for a new athletic director at a time when the football program is already under pressure, and that means the hire will not just be about administration or fundraising. It could shape how the school approaches one of its biggest public-facing decisions in the months ahead.
Among the names circulating are Candice Story Lee of Vanderbilt, Katie Fraumann, who has ties to Michigan, and David Benedict of UConn. Each brings a different background, but the common thread is the same: this is a hire that may define the direction of the department as much as any move on the field. For Michigan fans, the real intrigue is not only who gets the job, but how quickly that person decides the Wolverines need a different path in football. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Still Has One Problem It Must Solve Before Rutgers
Michigan still has one major decision hanging over it before Rutgers, and it is the sort that can shape everything else on the field. Kyle Whittingham has not settled on a starting quarterback, with freshman Tommy Carr and sophomore Bryce Underwood both in the mix after uneven recent showings. Carr flashed some promise even while dealing with turnovers and sacks, while Underwood has struggled in his last two starts but still carries a leadership presence inside the program.
The next few days of practice will go a long way toward sorting it out, with the staff planning to use those reps to narrow the competition and make the call closer to game time. For Michigan, it is more than just a roster question. The Wolverines are trying to find the steadier option before a conference game that can help set the tone for the stretch ahead, and the answer at quarterback remains the biggest unresolved piece. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Run Game Faces Its Biggest Test Yet At Rutgers
Michigan is heading into a game at Rutgers needing its ground attack to do a lot of the heavy lifting. The Wolverines have leaned on the run game as the most reliable part of an offense that has struggled in several areas this season, and the matchup looks favorable on paper, with Rutgers sitting near the bottom of the Big Ten in run defense. Even with Michigan favored by 14.5 points, this has the feel of a game where the Wolverines need their identity to show up early rather than rely on another tight finish.
The broader concern is that Michigan has already spent much of the season playing closer games than expected and surviving on the margins more often than it would like. Against Rutgers, the path is fairly clear: establish the run, control the pace and avoid giving an underdog enough chances to hang around. If the Wolverines cannot do that against the conferences weakest run defense, it would say plenty about where this offense really stands heading into the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]