Michigan Football: Where Are the Wolverines Headed?

To say Michigan Football has struggled over the last two seasons is an under-statement if ever there was such a thing.

They are 8-16 under Head Coach Rich Rodriguez in his first two years, and a lot of questions are being asked about this coaching staff, and many are legitimate.

Does this Head Coach understand what it takes to win in the conference he is currently competing in? Will his style of play and philosophy work against Big Ten opposition, both offensively and defensively?

Does Rich Rodriguez truly understand The Game, and the traditions of the University and the football program? If the answers to the prior questions is no, then how should the school respond?

In the meantime what should the reaction of the fan base be heading in to the 2010 season? There are so many questions, and so many reasons for doubt right now within the Michigan Football program, and we need to examine these items one by one.

Let's recap the past two seasons. We fans have seen a lot of bad records set under Coach Rod. Back to back losing seasons. Missing a bowl for the first time in decades, as well as setting records for poor defense. There have been losses to Toledo, Illinois, etc. and we've seen an embarrassing 3-13 conference record posted.

Second half breakdowns have become a regular occurrence, and a Michigan defense that was once known for being stout cannot defend against a power rushing attack nor can they defend the pass well at all. Multiple negative issues like this aren't acceptable.

Their has been a lack of discipline that has been disappointing, and guys are out of position, soft and missing tackles constantly. Multiple individual records have been set by opposing offensive players (see Juice Williams), and frequently we allow mediocre players become the conference player of the week.

In a day and age where Michigan has become a game opposing offensive coordinators post on their calendar as a day to pad stats, there really is only one important question. Can we reconcile our support for the coaching staff?

I do think certainly to a degree we can. Rarely is anything strictly black and white, and this situation is no different. However, there are still questions left unanswered. Now, let's examine the positives.

One positive to take from 2009 is that the overall production of the offense was markedly improved. Certainly there was very marginal improvement by the offense in big games and conference games, but progress was made nonetheless.

Michigan averaged 20.3 points per game in 2008, and managed to improve to 29.5 points per game in 2009 despite having a brand new freshman quarterback. Michigan is one of a few Big Ten teams that managed to record both 2,000 yards rushing and passing as a team.

To give a more detailed scoring comparison between the two teams, 2008 Michigan scored 42 versus Purdue and then their next best offensive performance was 29 points against Minnesota.

This past season Michigan exceeded 30 points to the tune of six games as opposed to only one. Their next highest point total was 28 at Iowa, then 24 at Wisconsin. Including MSU, the Wolverines scored 20 points or more in nine games.

Illinois, Penn State and Ohio State held them to 13 points or under. However, nine of their 12 games (75 percent) they were able to score 20 points or more. Again in 2008, Michigan scored with a lower frequency. 

Then there next highest totals were in order 29, 27, 23, 21, 20, 17, 17, 16, 14, 10 and seven. They scored 20 points or more six times (50 percent) in 2008. So, this 2009 team scored 30 points six times more than 2008's squad and exceeded/reached 20 points half again as many times!

They also reached/exceeded 28 points seven times as opposed to two, and reached/exceeded 24 points eight times as opposed to three.

In 2009, the scores for Michigan were as follows: 63, 45, 38, 36, 36, 31, 28, 24, 20, 13, 10 and 10. No matter how you slice it, Michigan scored more, moved the ball more consistently and was a noticeably more efficient team passing and running the ball.

Even in games versus Ohio State and Illinois where Michigan only scored a combined 23 points, they at least moved the ball respectably. In addition to these things, Michigan didn't have nearly as many negative yardage plays, and looked far more competent in most games.

They had big problems though, when it came to turnovers and finishing drives in the Red Zone. This can most likely be pinpointed on having only freshmen running the offense so far. There haven't been any scholarship quarterbacks taking snaps under Coach Rodriguez thus far, who aren't freshman! That's big.

In fact not only will I say that we haven't seen the best of the spread offense at Michigan, I will say it has been a recipe for disaster so far. We have seen the worst this system can do in the Big Ten, certainly not the best. ANY person who can't see this fact is blind, or just being plain ignorant.

Although I'm confident the offense will get significantly better where the time is given, the jury is still out on the defense in my opinion. They have to get better depth and size, and that is a big reason for their problem right now. My main issue is the Big East-esque defense they ran in 2009.

This team has to be tougher physically in the future. To recap:

1) I do believe that Rich Rod's offense will work in the Big Ten if it is given time to achieve continuity. This is happening now, and this off-season will propel the young offense into a stronger 2010.

2) This defensive style concerns me for 2010 in particular. I see a lot of room for improvement, and so that improvement will probably come against bad offenses, but there is a LOT of room for improvement because they were bad in 2009.

Lastly, I do believe that if Rich Rodriguez didn't understand the traditions before he arrived in Ann Arbor, then he does now. The Ohio State proved that, because his team fought very hard for the second straight season, and definitely has gained ground on the Buckeyes compared to 2008.

Conclusively, Michigan is probably headed in the right direction under the current coaching staff, but they need to get there quickly. For Rich Rodriguez's sake and the sake of the entire Wolverine fan base, serious progress needs to start this off-season and show up on Saturdays or some other coach could be on the sideline in 2011.