Coming off a 13-6 overtime loss to Indiana, Michigan has the No. 130-ranked offense in the country. The start of the Jason Beck tenure has been nothing short of a failure and the Wolverines have the second-worst offense of any Power Four program — rival Michigan State falling behind Michigan.
While the passing attack faltered in each of the last two seasons, one area of the Sherrone Moore era that you could count on was running the football. In both 2024 and 2025, Michigan was able to run the football against most teams, and that hasn't been the case under Beck.
Michigan currently has the 101st-ranked rushing attack in college football, averaging 134 yards per game. The Wolverines have rushed for over 200 yards in one game this season, which came two weeks ago against a bad Penn State defense, where Michigan gained 211 yards on the ground.
Appearing on 'Inside Michigan Football', Kyle Whittingham continues to search for answers, and says it's a combination between a banged-up offensive line and the running backs. But he also noted that the Wolverines continue to do too many side-to-side runs.
“I think it's a combination," Whittingham said. "And it's also a combination of earlier in the year, we were a little bit too side to side. And we still might be a little bit too much.
"Sometimes when the ball bounces outside, as we've talked about, it wasn't designed to do that. But sometimes it happens. But the more downhill, bottom line, more downhill we can be, the better off we are.
"We're not running the ball as nearly effective as we need to. We're under four yards of carry and we should be five or more. If you get a solid running attack in the college football, you are five yards or better yards per carry. And we're not there right now. We're far from it. I think we're 3.9 or 3.7, somewhere in that.”
Advanced stats show that
Stats don't always tell the full picture, but these stats aren't lying through seven games in 2026. Pro Football Focus tracks every run and the direction the runs are going in.
When Michigan runs towards the outside of the left tackle, the Wolverines gain 3.1 yards per carry. When the Wolverines run outside the right tackle, they average 3.3 yards per carry.
Michigan's best runs are: at the left guard (4.7 YPC), between LG and C (7.1 YPC), between RG and C (5.0 YPC), at the RG (4.4 YPC), and at the RT (6.0 YPC). Needless to say, when the Wolverines go back to their bread and butter and run downhill, Michigan finds more success.
To make matters worse, Michigan has attempted 111 runs this season between the left end and right end. Michigan has only run the ball 96 times between the tackles. There is clearly a disconnect between the play calling and what Michigan does best, and it doesn't appear to be getting any better.
Sign up for the Michigan Wolverines on SI newsletter for more free coverage
Add us as a preferred source on Google