Michigan Fans Unimpressed with Offense in Win vs. Iowa in Jim Harbaugh's Return
Michigan is heading to the College Football Playoff after beating Iowa in the Big Ten Championship, 26-0 in the return of the beleaguered Jim Harbaugh to the sidelines.
But it was hardly an impressive display, at least on the offensive side of the ball.
That unit struggled to get much going against the stalwart Iowa defense, with one of their touchdowns coming after a long punt return and another after a controversial fumble called against the Hawkeyes:
The Wolverines had 215 yards from scrimmage and only 66 on the ground on 34 attempts. They were just 3-of-15 on third down. Multiple drops from open receivers killed drives. If it weren't for a trio of Iowa turnovers—and the Hawkeyes' complete inability to muster anything positive on offense—this might have been a far different result.
Iowa exposed Michigan's potentially fatal flaw—if the Wolverines can't effectively establish the line of scrimmage and run the ball, they're going to struggle to generate offense, especially against more talented teams. It's possible the season-ending injury to star offensive lineman Zak Zinter played a big role in those struggles.
While the Michigan defense and special teams deserves props for playing at an elite level on Saturday night, it has to be noted that the impotent Iowa offense certainly helped their cause. So understandably, fans and pundits alike focused more on the lackluster showing from the offense:
While it was ugly, Michigan probably still won convincingly enough to hold onto the top spot in the CFP. The Wolverines came into the week ranked ahead of Washington and handled their business, even if the Huskies' second victory over Oregon this season was the more impressive win.
The Wolverines don't need to apologize for winning ugly. All they needed to do was win to get into the CFP, and they did so in a fashion where the result never felt particularly in doubt.
But the Iowa defense undoubtedly gave Michigan's upcoming playoff opponent some very interesting tape to dissect. This is a very good and very balanced team in all three phases, but if Michigan can't successfully run the ball in the playoff they might be in real trouble.
