Michigan entered this season with a different look on the sideline and a clear expectation attached to it: the Wolverines were supposed to be in the playoff conversation.
Instead, six weeks in, the picture is much murkier. Michigan is 4-2, and while a 10-2 finish would probably get them into the College Football Playoff, that path is about as narrow as it gets.
The remaining road to that number runs through Indiana, UCLA, Oregon, Ohio State, Rutgers and Michigan State. After back-to-back losses to Iowa and Minnesota to open Big Ten play, the wiggle room is gone.
The biggest reason for the slide is the offense, and the pressure starts with Jason Beck. He was brought in to give Michigan a more dynamic, competent attack, the kind of offense this program has not consistently had. Instead, the unit has looked like it is trying to force a Big 12 or Pac 12 style into the Big Ten, even though the roster was built largely by coaches who wanted to pound the ball and lean into a more traditional, physical approach.
Beck has shown over time that he can run productive offenses, including during his time at Utah with Kyle Whittingham. But that hasn’t translated early this season, and Michigan still feels like a team trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Beck has made some adjustments, though not enough of them yet. Saturday’s insertion of Tommy Carr into the lineup will be another chance to see whether that changes.
At the center of everything is the quarterback play, or more accurately, the lack of it. Bryce Underwood’s season has become a debate over whether he has not lived up to his talent or whether the situation around him has put him in a bad spot from the start. There are arguments on both sides.
He was asked to step in as a freshman and help rescue the program while the coaching staff around him was still sorting itself out. That’s a lot to put on any player. But Underwood has also made too many mistakes of his own, turning the ball over at an alarming rate and failing to deliver enough strong performances when the moment has demanded it.
There is also the reality that Underwood is not being treated like a regular college player. He is a paid professional, his salary is public, and that naturally raises the standard. So far, he has not met it.
Beck has not helped enough, either. His formations have often been easy to diagnose, and that has played a role in the same weak passing game Michigan has dealt with since JJ McCarthy went to the NFL.
The supporting cast has not carried its share, either, even with Michigan’s defense playing at a high level. Andrew Marsh was supposed to be one of the featured receivers, but his production has been uneven from week to week, and an injury may be part of the reason he has disappeared at times. He can’t throw the ball to himself, and maybe the quarterback change will help.
The run game has been even more disappointing. Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter were expected to be near the 1,000-yard mark, and the offensive line was supposed to be in the conversation for the Joe Moore Award. Instead, those expectations are nowhere close to being met.
Before Saturday’s game against Penn State, Michigan had only one run longer than 20 yards all season, a 38-yard touchdown from Bryce Underwood against Oklahoma.
There is still a chance Marshall and Hiter can find more room if the quarterback change sparks the offense and Beck moves toward a more downhill approach. But the offensive line’s problems are the hardest to excuse. The group has been banged up, yes, but that does not fully explain the way Michigan has struggled to run the ball through six weeks.
That’s where the story starts and ends right now: up front. If Michigan is going to build an identity on offense, it has to begin there.
In Other News...
Michigan Suddenly Has New Injury Questions Ahead Of Indiana
Michigan is heading into its Week 8 matchup with Indiana carrying a few more health questions than it would like this late in the week. Right tackle Andrew Sprague has already been sidelined since Week 3, and the latest injury report also includes Brady Norton and Blake Frazier as questionable, adding more uncertainty to a position group that has already been juggling availability.
The other new names are Enow Etta and Rod Moore, though Moores issue is not expected to be serious. Even so, the timing is less than ideal for a Michigan team trying to get settled before facing an Indiana squad that enters the week without anyone on its own injury report. For the Wolverines, the bigger concern now is not just who is available, but how many moving parts they can afford to manage. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan's Defensive Front Has A Huge Chance To Flip Indiana Game
Larry Black knows this matchup from both sides of the line. The Michigan defensive tackles coach spent part of his playing career at Indiana, and he still remembers the 2010 meeting when he lined up against his brother Jibreel Black, who was then at Michigan. Now hes helping shape a Wolverines front that could be central to how this one plays out, especially with both teams bringing enough defensive punch to make every possession feel important.
Turnovers may be the biggest swing factor, and Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham has stressed the margin for error there. Black, for his part, sounds eager for the chance to see his group make an imprint against his old program, with the interior defense in position to affect the game in a way that goes beyond the usual box score. For Michigan, the path to controlling Indiana may start with the line of scrimmage, where Blacks background gives this game a little extra edge. [Read more 🡒]
Urban Meyer Sees One Important Thing In Michigan's QB Switch
Michigans quarterback switch at halftime against Penn State was less about making a statement than finding a way to get the offense moving. Bryce Underwood gave way to Tommy Carr after the Wolverines struggled to establish rhythm, and the change gave the staff a fresh look without forcing a wholesale rework of what they wanted to run.
Urban Meyer pointed to one important part of the move: Carrs skill set is close enough to Underwoods that Michigan could keep leaning on the same run-pass menu. That showed up in the second half, when Carr was able to operate the offense on RPOs and quarterback counters and finish a speed option play in the end zone, the kind of continuity coaches hope for when they turn to a backup in the middle of a game. [Read more 🡒]