Michigan’s quarterback question is still unresolved, but the bigger issue might be staring the Wolverines in the face from the backfield.
If Michigan can’t find a reliable answer in the running game, the identity of the quarterback may not change much. The Wolverines managed just 57 rushing yards on 42 carries in Saturday’s 13-6 overtime loss to Indiana on Oct. 24, a season low that worked out to 1.4 yards per attempt.
Jordan Marshall finished with 26 yards on 12 carries, while Savion Hiter gained 15 yards on 10 attempts. Neither back broke off a run longer than 6 yards.
It was a rough outing, even with Indiana entering as the defending College Football Playoff champion and one of the country’s best defensive teams. But the broader problem for Michigan has been building all season. The Wolverines are averaging 134.7 rushing yards per game, which ranks No. 101 out of 138 FBS teams.
On Monday, coach Kyle Whittingham was asked whether Michigan should think about changing its approach at running back, perhaps leaning harder on one player instead of spreading the work around.
“Fair argument, fair question,” he said. “If we would have a back clearly separate himself from the rest of the pack, then I think that would be something that we would have done by now. But no one's really just, 'Hey, I'm RB1, and there's no question about it, and I've got the hot hand.'
“It’s kind of been by committee. Not kind of - it has been by committee pretty much all season long because of that, because nobody's really taken the lead and just run away with the yards per carry and the production.”
That lack of a clear lead option has shown up in the numbers. Marshall, who went over 60 rushing yards in each of his final six games last season, has not reached that mark once this year. Hiter, a true freshman and the top recruit at his position coming out of high school, has been held to 15 yards or fewer in four of seven games.
Michigan’s backs have produced only two runs of 20 yards or more this season, and both came in the second half of the Oct. 17 win over Penn State. The only back averaging at least 4 yards per carry is third-stringer Bryson Kuzdzal, who ripped off a 43-yard run against the Nittany Lions and has carried the ball 15 times this season.
Whittingham said the problems are not limited to the running backs.
“There's not a lot of creases up front.,” he said. “We haven't had the movement. I continue to talk about physicality and getting knockoff, knocking people off the ball, and we just haven't been able to do that with any consistency.
“Then, in fairness to the line, there has been some blocked yards that we haven't taken advantage of at times.”
Michigan has not closed the door on the idea of one back taking over the job, but with November nearing, no one has separated enough to claim the bulk of the carries.
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 🡒]