Michigan Football: Why The Sky Is Not Falling

If you ask most people on Bleacher Report about the state of Michigan football, what do you think would be their response?

Gone?  Dead?  Not coming back?  Over?

I'm sure it would involve a phrase similar to the few I've listed above.  After a hot 4-0 start, Michigan sits ice cold losing 5 of their last 6 games, and not having beaten an FBS opponent since September 26th.

But I maintain that the sky is not falling down.

Think about it.

Last year was an awful year for Michigan football - I sat at every home game and watched in awe as the Wolverines plunged into obscurity.  Luckily for us, there has been significant improvement between last year and this year, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Some Statistics:

In 2008, Michigan averaged 20.3 PPG and had a total of 3,489 yards.  Less than 50% of our passes were completed, and we averaged 290.8 total YPG.  We were a measly 0.275 (or 27.5%) on third down conversions and averaging 147.6 YPG rushing.

In 2009, Michigan is leading the Big Ten in rushing and scoring offense, averaging 208.3 YPG rushing and 32 PPG.  We're already 500+ yards over our total yards from last season and still have at least two games to get through.  We are one of 4 Big Ten teams averaging over 400 total YPG (404.0).  Also, we're converting just over 40% of our 3rd downs, a significant increase from last season.

Why is this important?

Alright, so now you've seen it:  our offense is much improved.  In fact, our offense is considerably the best in the Big Ten as far as statistics go.  What's even more impressive is that this resurgent offense is led by a true freshman who should have at least two more years to develop and grow as a player.

I think people are so lost and caught up in our 5-5 record to see what really is happening, and it's good.  I see brilliance on the field.  I see a high-powered, explosive offense that can score quickly.  14 points in under 5 minutes with no timeouts is quite impressive (Oct. 3rd against MSU).

You may have noticed (I did) our seemingly stagnant October.  Remember Forcier's shoulder injury and concussion?  I suspect his injuries were more severe than he, the team, or the coach led the public to believe.  Forcier looked incredibly better this past weekend against Purdue and Roy Roundtree is emerging as another Wolverine great, with 10 receptions, 126 yards (12.6 Y/ATT), including a 43 yard touchdown catch.  Minor adds a new dimension to our offense when he's healthy and hopefully Brown can catch some action before the season ends.

Our offense is like day and night.  The improvement is staggering, and it's only going to get better.

The defense, however, has been our Achilles' heel this season...

I'll spare you the stats here, because they are abysmal.  But 3 defensive coordinators in 3 seasons will do that to a team.  There has been no consistency at all on the defensive side of the ball, and it stems from the lack of consistency when it comes to personnel.  Even so, our defense is working better than last year, as we're giving up around 3 fewer PPG (hey, an improvement is an improvement), but there's still a lot of room to grow.

Greg Robinson's defense has won Superbowls and is proven.  The man is a genius on that side of the ball, and after the next recruiting class or two and his players can get set in the system - watch out, they'll be unstoppable.  The only thing that will heal our defense is time.  Time to get the players accustomed to it, and time for the coach to lay a good foundation and make our defense consistent.

Continuing my "glass is half full" speech, I would like to point out to you that if Michigan had won the close games (MSU and IOWA) and had won the two we dropped that we should've won (ILLINOIS and PURDUE), we could be sitting at a very lofty 9-1 right now.  And that will come to realization within the next year or two.

What this team needs now is encouragement and relentless support.  It's okay to bleed maize and blue even though we have a .500 record.  Let's be thankful we made it past 3 this season.

And don't fret my fellow Wolverines, the future looks bright.  Very, very bright.

Let's go Blue, and beat Wisconsin!