Ohio State and Michigan usually don’t find much common ground, but this season has pushed both fan bases into the same miserable corner.
Michigan’s first year under Kyle Whittingham has gone sideways, and Ohio State’s championship hopes have been wrecked by Julian Sayin’s season-ending injury. The result is a pair of proud programs staring at the same ugly truth: both are wandering in the wilderness right now.
For Michigan, the warning signs were impossible to miss in a 15-6 loss to Michigan State. The Wolverines had just squeaked by one of the Big Ten’s weakest teams in Rutgers, then needed a real offensive response against an injury-riddled Spartans team.
Instead, they produced almost nothing. Michigan converted only two third downs, managed just 54 rushing yards, turned it over four times and went nearly two full quarters without reaching the red zone.
It was a brutal performance, and only barely avoided becoming the Wolverines’ first shutout against an unranked opponent since 1977.
That kind of outing left embattled offensive coordinator Jason Beck with no room left to survive. On Sunday, Michigan fired him.
Now the attention shifts to quarterback Bryce Underwood. After Tommy Carr struggled against a defense Michigan should have been able to handle, Whittingham may not have many options left.
Ohio State’s problems are different, but just as damaging. Three weeks ago, the Buckeyes looked like a legitimate national title threat with Sayin healthy, Jeremiah Smith playing like a Heisman Trophy favorite and a defense that could carry the load. Then Sayin’s injury against Indiana changed everything.
Since then, the offense has fallen apart with Luke Fahey at quarterback. Ryan Day still hasn’t found a reliable running game to support the freshman, and while Fahey isn’t the only issue, he hasn’t done enough to stabilize things either.
Given how long Tavien St. Clair has been in Columbus, he may deserve a look before the Buckeyes run out of time to find out what they have in the former five-star.
The defense has started to crack too. Through seven weeks, Ohio State was allowing just 13.2 points per game.
In back-to-back Big Ten games, that unit has given up 30 points to USC and 41 to Oregon. The slide has been ugly.
The College Football Playoff committee noticed. In its first ranking of the season, Ohio State landed at No. 12, a clear signal that the Buckeyes need a much different finish if they want to stay in the hunt.
That is what makes the rest of the road so precarious. Michigan is one win away from bowl eligibility, but the Wolverines have to get that victory against three ranked Big Ten opponents: Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State. Ohio State, meanwhile, is staring at a path that looks far less forgiving than it did a month ago.
Just three years ago, Michigan was celebrating a championship season. Ohio State did the same two years ago. Now both programs are dealing with seasons that have spiraled in ways nobody saw coming.
And that sets up a strange possibility later this month: Ohio State-Michigan could feature two unranked teams for the first time since 1987. Even more jarring, the game may carry less weight than usual beyond the bragging rights, at least compared with what each team expected when the season began.
This year’s matchup will still matter. It just may matter more as a chance to stop the bleeding than as a step toward anything bigger.
In Other News...
Michigans MSU Loss Forced A Change Whittingham Couldnt Delay
The loss to Michigan State pushed Michigan football coach Whittingham to make a change he said he could not put off any longer. After reviewing the performance, he dismissed offensive coordinator Jason Beck, the Utah import who had been guiding the offense, and turned the play-calling duties over to offensive line coach Jim Harding on an interim basis.
Whittingham framed the move as a direct response to offensive regression, and he was clear that the decision came from his own evaluation rather than any outside pressure. For a program trying to steady itself after a disappointing showing against its in-state rival, the change signals both urgency and accountability as the Wolverines try to reset on offense. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Just Hit A New Low And Bigger Changes May Follow
The latest loss only deepened what has become a rough season in Ann Arbor, as Michigan fell to Michigan State 15-6 and kept searching for answers on both sides of the ball. The offense has sputtered for much of the year, the defense has not been able to carry the load often enough, and the result was another reminder that the Wolverines are dealing with more than just a bad night.
Kyle Whittingham has already signaled that bigger roster changes could be coming next year, which adds another layer of uncertainty to a program already staring at a difficult stretch ahead. With ranked opponents still on the schedule and questions hanging over key leadership roles, Michigan is running out of time to stabilize the present while also figuring out what the future should look like. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Quarterback Debate Is Back At The Worst Time
The quarterback picture at Michigan has shifted again at exactly the wrong moment, with Kyle Whittingham saying the starter for the upcoming game against Oregon is still undecided after the firing of offensive coordinator Jason Beck. Freshman Tommy Carr has opened the last three games, but his most recent outing raised fresh questions after a noticeable dip in performance, while Bryce Underwood remains in the mix because of the athleticism and leadership that made him the previous starter.
Whittingham has been here before with quarterback changes, and he is not tipping his hand this time either. For Michigan, the uncertainty adds another layer to a week already defined by change, with the Ducks looming and the offense still searching for the right answer under center. [Read more 🡒]