Michigan was considered the elite football running game. What happened?

Many aspects of Michigan’s football start to the 2016 season have been surprising.

defensive end Jay Hill, who tops the nation’s top 15 in forced turnovers over the past two years, has three in four games. The team, coached by Kyle Whittingham, known for leading discipline, is in the bottom fourth nationally in penalties.

Advertisement

But perhaps most surprising of all, the Wolverines struggle to run the football, which is surprising for two reasons. First, UM has a history of running with great success and this time on paper with a loaded room of backs including, Jordan Marshall, who had almost 2025 yards in work for the first half of the season as a second option; and Savion Hiter, who programs at no. 1-ranked high school running back in the nation.

Second, Utah was a land game behemoth in 2025. With the same coach (Whittingham), offensive coordinator (Jason Beck) and offensive line coach (Jim Harding), Utah finished 2025 as the No. 1 team in the nation in yards per carry (6.0) and was No. 2 in the nation in passing yards (266.3) and passing touchdowns (41).

An argument can be made that Big 12 defenses are not Big Ten (or Oklahoma, SEC) defenses, but that doesn’t explain how in two games against Western Michigan and UTEP, the Wolverines rushed 67 times for 291 yards (4.3 yards per carry).

“I think everything is a work in progress, and we’re all about wanting instant results,” running backs coach Tony Alford said this week on the “Inside Michigan Football” radio show. “It’s a process. We talked about it [Monday] actually in the morning It’s a process, and the games are going to be great. Just make your server and things will develop. And when the opportunities are there, you’ve got to make sure you capitalize on them.”

Advertisement

So far, the backfield hasn’t. The average range of field marshals dropped from 6.2 to 4.3. Hitter lower at 3.6 Over, Michigan for No. He’s tied for 89th in the nation in rushing yards per game (149.0), and that’s even with a boost from Bryce Underwood, who is two yards behind Marshall as the team’s overall leader.

TO THE RIGHT: Bryce Underwood on the move is found in the trenches for Michigan football

Overall, it’s the first time in more than 20 years that Michigan has gone the entire month of September without receiving a single rusher for 100 yards in a game. Most of the questions now are what went wrong, and how was it fixed?

For starters, the offensive line has had to deal with injuries, and UM could be looking at a chance for a fourth different linebacker lineup in five games if Blake Frazier can’t play on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Minnesota (Noon, Fox).

Advertisement

On the other hand, the marshal does not care about numbers.

“It’s hard when you don’t have explosive runs to have a 100-yard game or whatever,” Marshall said. “But you got three guys, four guys carrying the ball, you got me; [Bryson Kuzdzal]Save, and you have Bryce carrying the ball. So we really share when it comes to four guys.

“But I hope you guys can see that too, because we’re close on offense.”

But in addition to these, there are some reasons related to the scheme.

“I think our zone game, our two game play, we need the net mechanics to mature,” Alford said. “I’ve seen or thought about it in training camp a little bit. … We just think we’re a little further behind the blocks. So then we had to start speeding up the mechanics of that, so we can get over things a little faster.

Advertisement

Sabinus: The Kyle Whittingham era of Michigan football is clearly the least

“This is not an unpleasant line. This is the running back and the mechanical network of things. So there is a lot that goes into it. People see the end and say, ‘Oh, the line didn’t do it, it didn’t do it.’ There should be no more fun than that. You can only hold the trunk for so long.

“If you’re not in those blocks, it’s going to go all the way to the back, and it’s going to penetrate inside the weapon and out of the holes pretty quickly, which eventually affects everything.”

Despite not having a ton of success in terms of chunk plays on the ground, Michigan has continued to lean on the rushing attack. The Wolverines have run the ball 146 times compared to 94 pass attempts; Whittingham says the ratio should be closer to 50-50 “when his team works best.”

But the jump game has shown more life recently, which could not only lend itself to opportunities, but also lift the burden on the backs of the box when asked to keep them on the ground. Whittingham said he saw improvement, but it wasn’t as clear on the test as the progression from the passing game.

Advertisement

The softball game is the major reason UM is tied for No. 118 in the red zone offense and No. 93 in scoring (25.2 points per game). This is all that Michigan needs to change its camera.

“We’re starting to run pretty much out of the game,” Whittingham said. “I stopped the run game pretty good.” [against Iowa]. … Some good things are happening, but we are still a work in progress.

Tony Garcia is a Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article first appeared in the Detroit Press: Michigan was considered the elite football running game. What happened?