Lessons From Michigan Football’s Rocky Road to Victory

[There’s an old saying in football, you’re probably never quite as bad as you are on your worst day, and you’re probably never as good as you are on your best day. And after watching Michigan beat Oklahoma 17-10, I think that’s the best way I could describe where Michigan football is right now. Because a week ago, everybody was ready to bury Michigan. And to be quite honest, Michigan gave everybody a reason to do it. That Western Michigan game was bad. Michigan was sloppy. The offense couldn’t consistently move the ball. The quarterback struggled. The offensive line struggled and they turned the ball over and it literally took a Hail Mary at the end of the game to beat Western Michigan. So all week Michigan heard it. The media ripped them. The fans ripped them. People questioned the coaching question Bryce Underwood. They questioned the offensive line. They questioned whether Michigan was even close to being a contender. And then here comes Oklahoma. the No. 11 team in the country. John Mateer as their quarterback. a team that everybody was convinced was going to walk into the Big House and absolutely dominate Michigan. Going through the predictions of the game, it felt like everybody was picking Oklahoma. Charles Woodson believed Michigan could win. Rick Neuheisel believed Michigan could win, but outside of those guys, there wasn’t exactly a line of people picking the Wolverines. And I think they were pissed off about it. And you know what? Good. Because sometimes a team needs to be pissed off. Sometimes you need someone to tell you you’re not good enough. Sometimes you need somebody to question your toughness. Sometimes you need somebody to question your coaching staff. And sometimes you need an entire week of everybody outside of the building telling you what you can’t do because that Michigan football team look like they have something to prove. Not to everybody else, but to themselves. Now, did they play a perfect football game? Absolutely not. And we’re going to get in all that because there’s still some major problems with this offense. But Michigan played harder. They played faster. They played more physical. And most importantly, they looked like they were playing for one another. It’s the breakdown. Let’s get it.

You know, I want to start this episode off talking about the defense because a while ago I did a video about who was going to rush the quarterback because that was my question. Michigan has talented defensive players. They have athletes. They have experience in the secondary. They have linebackers. But when you’re talking about the Michigan defenses that we’ve seen over the years, the defenses that we’ve been accustomed to seeing, somebody has always been able to get after the quarterback. Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Mike Morris, Josiah Stewart, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant collapsing things from the inside. At some point, somebody has to win one-on-one matchups and get to the quarterback. And quite honestly, we didn’t see a lot of that from the interior of the defense. We saw flashes, but really no consistency. So, coming into this year, I had questions. Well, Saturday, I finally think we’re getting our answers. John Henry Daley had eight tackles, three tackles for a loss, a sack. And understand something about Daly. This isn’t a guy who suddenly figured out how to rush the pass. This is a player who had 11 and a half sacks, 17 and a half tackles for a loss at Utah before suffering an Achilles injury. And Dom Nichols was creating pressure. I mean, his first career start against Western Michigan, he had nine tackles, two and a half tackles for a loss, one and a half sacks. He was probably the best player on the Michigan defense that afternoon against Western Michigan. But then everybody wants to know, okay, that’s Western Michigan. Can you do that against Oklahoma? Can you do it against a legitimate offensive line? Can you do it against John Mateer? A quarterback who’s known for his mobility, who’s known to escape pressure, and can really hurt you once the play breaks down. And guess what? Nichols showed up again. The raw box score numbers aren’t even going to tell you the kind of game he played. Because when you watch him, he was consistently affecting the pocket, consistently setting the edge. He was chasing Matier. He had Oklahoma’s tackles looking like they were on skates. And Pro Football Focus gave Nichols a 91.8 pass rush grade against Oklahoma. That is an elite pass rushing grade. So, we’re not seeing one good outing against Western Michigan or another good outing against Oklahoma. What we’re starting to see is a pattern. Guys like Nate Marshall was creating pressure. The defensive front was getting after John Mateer. And what impressed me wasn’t just the sacks. It was the fact that they kept making him uncomfortable. A lot of those passes that John Mateer was throwing were affected by the pass rush. That was the reason why they were sailing high just out of reach of the wide receiver. It was because the defensive front was putting pressure and getting in John Mateer’s face. Mateer finished the game 17 to 33 for 189 yards. Oklahoma only had 289 yards of offense. They were 3-of-13 on third-down conversions. Three of 13. That’s winning football. And Michigan did it against a quarterback who can hurt you with his legs. The defensive line was physical. The linebackers were flying around. And for most of the game, Oklahoma had to work for everything. Now, they weren’t perfect. They missed some tackles. There were a couple plays where Matier escaped the pocket and extended plays, which was driving me absolutely mad. There were penalties that gave Oklahoma life, but when Michigan needed a defensive play, they made one. Chris Brazzell forces the fumble. Zahir Hill makes an interception. And that interception was enormous because Hill had already made one of the dumbest plays of the afternoon with that unnecessary roughness penalty that already had Oklahoma backed up against their goal line. But I give Zahir Hill credit. He didn’t sulk. He didn’t get down. He was actually lifted up by his teammates and he goes back out there and makes one of the biggest plays of the game with the interception which he ended up returning it into Oklahoma territory and gives Michigan the go-ahead score. That’s responding. That’s what good players do. You make a mistake, you come back and you redeem yourself. And Michigan closes the game doing exactly what I wanted to see from this defense. And if Daley stays healthy and this front continues to develop, Michigan might end up having one of the best defenses in the Big Ten, if not the country.

Hey Michigan fans, we will be right back. But first, a word from our sponsor. For generations, Knight’s Steakhouse has been an Ann Arbor tradition. Family-owned and serving the community since 1952. From hand-cut steaks and fresh seafood to classic cocktails and genuine hospitality. Visit Knight’s on Dexter Avenue or downtown Ann Arbor. Knight’s Steakhouse. Great food, strong drinks. Ann Arbor tradition.

Hey fellow Michigan fans, this is your A2 Homegirl Sherri Winrow with eXp Realty. I’m a lifelong Michigan fan. I know Ann Arbor. I know real estate and I know what it means to go blue. Find me at a2homegirl.net. net. If you watch Michigan take on Oklahoma, you know that was the kind of game that had you locked in from start to finish. And when I’m watching a game like that, I am definitely grabbing some OLIPOP. Look, I’m not going to tell you it’s going to change your life. I genuinely like the stuff. It tastes good. It’s refreshing. And I also like what’s in it. And it doesn’t even matter what flavor you get. You’re going to get 6–9 grams of fiber. You’re going to get the prebiotics. It’s great for digestive health and also has less sugar than traditional soda. So, for me, it’s an easy swap. I get all those flavors that I love growing up as a kid, it’s healthy for me. It’s great for my digestive health and it actually tastes good. So whether you’re celebrating a Michigan big win or stressing through the fourth quarter like I usually am, you can always reach and grab for an OLIPOP.

Michigan got the win. I got my OLIPOP. Everybody’s happy. Now back to football.

Now let’s talk about Bryce because after the Western Michigan game, Bryce took a lot of heat. Some of it deserved and some of it I quite honestly went a little too far. But that’s what happens when you’re the quarterback at Michigan. And that’s definitely what happens when you’re Bryce Underwood. Everybody knows the recruiting ranking. Everybody knows the expectations. Everybody knows about the money. Nobody cares about how young you are playing quarterback at Michigan. Now, Saturday wasn’t some huge statistical passing performance. Nine completions on 17 attempts, 111 yards, no passing touchdowns. But there’s one number that I care about after what happened last week. And that’s zero interceptions, zero turnovers. That’s progress. And after what you see what Bryce could do with his legs, I’ll take it. 18 carries, 87 yards, and a 38-yard touchdown. That was Bryce Underwood reminding everybody exactly what kind of athlete he is. When the play opened up, he hit it and he was gone. That’s something that Michigan is going to have to continue using because defenses now have to account for the quarterback in the run game. But here’s where I think we have to be careful. You cannot build an entire offense around Bryce Underwood running the football 18 times every weekend. That’s not sustainable. He’s your quarterback. And Michigan still has to get better at throwing the football. Now, the good thing is I thought Bryce looked calmer. He looked more decisive. He didn’t force things nearly as much. And I think part of that is Jason Beck simplifying some things for him. And that’s exactly what Beck should be doing right now. I know everybody wants to see the entire playbook. Everybody wants to see the explosive plays. Everybody wants to see Bryce throwing the ball 35 times. and looking like an NFL quarterback. But I think we’re going to have to slow down and let him grow. Give him concepts that he’s comfortable with so he can get the ball out faster, use his legs, build his confidence, then gradually add more. Jason Beck is still trying to find his rhythm as a play caller with a young quarterback. And part of the challenge is that he can’t call the offense like he’s coaching a fifth-year quarterback who’s seen everything. He’s coaching a young quarterback. You’re going to have to simplify things. You’re going to have to protect them. you’re going to have to keep the offense slightly vanilla. But there’s a difference between simplifying an offense and being predictable. And Michigan still has to find that balance.

And part of the reason Beck can’t completely open things up yet is partly on the offensive line. Was the offensive line better this week than they were against Western Michigan? Absolutely. I’ll give them that. There were stretches where the protection looked better. There were plays where Bryce had time. They looked more physical. But better than last week doesn’t automatically mean good. The offensive line still has a long way to go and the biggest evidence of that is the run game. Take Bryce’s production out of the run game and Jordan Marshall finished with 11 carries for 32 yards. Savion Hiter had eight carries for six yards. Six. That’s 38 rushing yards from your primary running backs on 19 carries for Michigan. That’s not only unacceptable, that’s that’s unheard of. That isn’t Michigan. I don’t care who the coach is. I don’t care who the offensive coordinator is. I don’t want to take anything away from Oklahoma because that is a good defense. a very well coached defense, but at some point you should be able to line up and move people. Jordan Marshall should have lanes to run through. We should be able to get Savion Hiter in space and allow him to create things. There are still way too many plays where the defenders are meeting our running backs either in the backfield or right at the line of scrimmage. And you can’t keep putting the burden on Bryce. Michigan rushed the ball 41 times. Sounds great until you realize 18 of those carries came from your quarterback. That’s not a Michigan functioning ground game yet. It’s just not. And I want to see more variety. Get these linebackers moving. Run some more outside zone. Make the defenders flow side to side. Create cutback lanes. Give Jordan Marshall somewhere to go besides repeatedly trying to run the ball up the middle of a defense that’s waiting on him. We have to find a way to get easier yards.

Now, let’s talk about what was probably one of the most frustrating things of of the evening was penalties. We had 11 penalties, 90 yards. Michigan won a football game in spite of that. But you can’t make that part of your identity. There was offensive holding, false starts, illegal motion, roughing the passer, roughing the kicker. Another facemask on a play where Michigan had the quarterback dead to rights. And I and I don’t fault Dom Nichols for this at all. It was just I mean, he had the kid. They just grabbed it by the back of the helmet. And unfortunately, those are the rules. But you cannot have as many penalties as we had in this game. That’s not an ability problem. That’s a discipline problem. As a matter of fact, let me clarify that. That’s a self-discipline problem. And Kyle Whittingham has been around football far too long to tolerate that. Because against Oklahoma at home, your defense might bail you out. Against Ohio State, against Oregon, against Penn State, against Indiana, 11 penalties will get you beat. Matter of fact, 11 penalties will get you embarrassed. clean that up because that’s the difference between winning 17-10 and winning this game more comfortably.

Now, I hardly ever spend any time on special teams, but I mean, special teams has been an absolute bright spot for this team. I mean, Hudson Hollenbeck, listen, punting isn’t sexy. No one’s making Hudson Hollenbeck highlight videos all week, but he was an absolute weapon in this football game. Michigan repeatedly made Oklahoma play on a long field. He put Oklahoma at or near their own goal line. Again, that’s winning football. When you got a defense playing like Michigan’s defense was, field position becomes enormously important. Make Oklahoma go 80 yards. Make them go 90 yards. Make them have to execute perfectly for four or five minutes without making a mistake. That’s a difficult thing to do against this defense. So, Hudson Hollenbeck deserves a ton of credit for his role that he played in this win.

So, here’s where I’m at after two weeks. Michigan isn’t fixed. Michigan isn’t back. Let’s not do that. Let’s not go from everybody saying Michigan is terrible after Western Michigan to now pretending they’re ready to win the national championship because they beat Oklahoma. That’s exactly what I mean when I say you’re not as bad as your worst game, you’re not as good as your best game. Michigan has problems. The running game is still not good enough. The offensive line still has work to do. The passing game is still limited. Jason Beck is still trying to establish what this offense is going to be with a young quarterback. And Bryce Underwood is still developing. And the penalties were ridiculous. But Saturday was improvement. And more than anything, Saturday showed me something about this team’s mentality. I think Michigan came into this game irritated. I think they were tired about hearing about Western Michigan. I think they were tired of hearing people questioning them. And I think that’s a good thing because everybody on the outside loves saying it’s us against the world. And you know what? It’s not really Michigan against the world. It’s everybody in that locker room that’s against the world. That’s the mentality because the media will turn on you. Some fans will turn on you. Fans will sell their seats on SeatGeek when they think the season is over with. People will praise you one week and bury you the next, but that’s sports. That’s never changing. So, all that really matters is the guy standing next to you in that locker room. Are you playing for him? Does he trust you? Do you trust him? When things get bad, are you pointing fingers? Or are you picking each other up? Because that’s what I saw Saturday. I saw Jai Hill make a stupid penalty and then make the biggest defensive play of the game. I saw Bryce Underwood respond after getting ripped all week, not just by the national media, but by his peers, by his fans. I saw an offensive line that still isn’t where it needs to be, but played better. I saw a defense that put its team on its back, and I saw Michigan play with a level of intensity that I did not see against Western Michigan. And to me, that’s the question Michigan needs to ask itself every Saturday. Are you playing for a check? Are you playing for attention? Are you playing for praise? Or are you playing for one another?

We’re starting to see some movement in the right direction. Michigan 17, Oklahoma 10. A lot still needs to get fixed, but Michigan got punched all week, and this time they punched back.

All right, Michigan fans. Thanks for rocking with me on this episode of The Breakdown. Don’t forget to like, share, comment, subscribe. I’ll see you on the next one. If you like this kind of content, please like, share, follow, and subscribe. And as always, go blue!]