Michigan Football: Fitzgerald Toussaint DUI Arrest Throws Backfield into Chaos

Michigan's road to an undefeated season was already an uphill climb thanks to a trip to Dallas to play defending champions Alabama in Week 1. Now, it'll probably have to make that happen without its workhorse in the backfield.

According to AnnArbor.com, star tailback Fitzgerald Toussaint was arrested late Saturday night on suspicion of DUI after police pulled him over on a drunk-driving detail.

Brady Hoke reacted swiftly to the news, via this statement:

"

Fitz made a poor decision and has been suspended indefinitely because of that action. There are expectations that come with being a football student-athlete at the University of Michigan and those responsibilities were not met in this instance. We will use this as an opportunity to educate Fitz and make sure he understands the high standards that we have established within our program.

"

An indefinite suspension could mean any number of games, including zero, but it's extremely unlikely that Toussaint will be back for Week 1. Drunk-driving arrests are taken seriously in the Big Ten (and pretty much anywhere else), and they typically carry suspensions of multiple games. If Toussaint's lucky at all, it's that his arrest came in the offseason, but still, the Michigan-Alabama game is less than six weeks away.

As for what this means to the Michigan offense, it means many things, and none of them are good. Toussaint is likely going to have to work his way back into the starting lineup, and going from the coach's doghouse to the top of the depth chart is a tough task with a backfield as crowded as Michigan's.

Thomas Rawls impressed in the spring game, and he's likely going to start for the time being. Additionally, Vincent Smith is a senior veteran at tailback, and Justice Hayes is a highly touted RB who redshirted last year. The depth and talent is there even without Toussaint.

Even so, it's undeniable that Michigan's offense really hit its stride when Toussaint was made a full-time starter last year, and the tailback-by-committee approach we saw from the Wolverines in the early going was far from productive. So Michigan's going to need Rawls (or someone) to step up and be an every-down back in Toussaint's absence, or it won't have a chance against Alabama.

And that's even if Michigan had a chance to begin with.