The Michigan Wolverines season began with such promise. There was a new head coach, and a new order that was set to begin.
The playoffs were a reasonable expectation.
Seven weeks into the season, however, the playoff dream is dead. Michigan is 4-3 after a disastrous performance on offense last week against the Indiana Hoosiers.
They’re one of the worst offenses in the country. Their defense is incredible. That allows them to remain in every game that they play.
They have five games left on their schedule, and have to win two to become bowl eligible.
If they don’t?
Well..
Here’s our thoughts on how Michigan will fare in their final games of the regular season.
@ Rutgers
Somehow, Michigan is a 14-point favorite going on the road to face Rutgers. Rutgers is not good, but Michigan has not scored 14 points on offense without the help of a turnover since facing Iowa at the end of September.
Things are that bad on offense to where there are no layups for this team. That being said, Rutgers is 1-3 in conference play. They’re talking about firing Greg Schiano and starting over again.
Unless Michigan’s defense just folds after last week’s performance, it’s hard to envision Rutgers finding too much traction against them.
Prediction: Win (5-3)
Vs Michigan State
Anything can happen in a rivalry game. We’ve seen bad Michigan State teams knock off the Wolverines in the past, but this version of the Spartans is particularly bad. They are 0-5 in conference play, and their most inspiring performance of the season came against Northwestern. They’re 2-6 on the year, and in a full fledged rebuild under new head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Michigan will be at home. Their defense should be juiced up for a rivalry game. This could be a game where Michigan pitches a shutout on that side of the ball.
Prediction: Win (6-3)
@ Oregon
At the beginning of this season, a trip to Eugene felt like a death trap for the Wolverines, even when there were high expectations for the season in Ann Arbor. Since then, however, the bottom has fallen out at Oregon. Dan Lanning has fired his offensive coordinator. The Ducks are 4-3, with a 2-2 conference record. They just lost to a rebuilding Illinois program. Their starting quarterback is a mystery on a weekly basis. Dante Moore has missed most of the season with a nasty concussion.
By this point in the season, some Ducks, who had high expectations for the year, might be looking toward their plans for 2027.
Plus, we know that Kyle Whittingham knows how to win out west.
What felt like a loss when the schedule was released turns into a win to give the Wolverines an inspiring three-game winning streak.
Prediction: Win (7-3)
Vs UCLA
After a three game winning streak, that will come to an end at the hands of Bob Chesney’s UCLA Bruins. The Bruins have been the surprise of the Big Ten this season, and looked like a lock for the College Football Playoff before losing their starting quarterback to injury.
They have kept humming even without Nico Iamaleava under center. They’re currently the best team in the conference with a spotless 7-0 record.
Again, Michigan’s defense will be able to keep them in this game, but Chesney’s team should find enough points on the field to keep a hapless Michigan offense from being able to outscore them.
Prediction: Loss (7-4)
@ Ohio State
Unlike Sherrone Moore’s first season as the head coach, there will be no galvanizing victory at the end of the season against an Ohio State team who would be playing with their playoff lives by this point of the season.
Going to Columbus is not the death march it was at one point. Ryan Day’s team will still be a formidable foe, but they will likely be starting a true freshman at quarterback for The Game.
Michigan’s defense can hang with any team. They’ll make things difficult for the Buckeyes to score.
The problem with that is it does not take many points to knock off the Wolverines these days. The Buckeye defense is very good. They’ll be fired up behind their home crowd. Michigan has been awful in their only road test so far this season, so it’s hard to imagine them being as clean and disciplined as it would require to win in Columbus.
Prediction: Loss (7-5)
Final Thoughts
7-5 is not a record anyone would have signed up for when the season began, but it was in the realistic range of possibilities in Kyle Whittingham’s first season as the coach.
For those hoping that Whittingham would be dismissed, 7-5 is probably not going to do it. We’ve seen no reason to believe that would lead to any significant changes on the staff either.
What would be the most likely scenario is an overhaul of some of the personnel on offense in the transfer portal.
That could start at quarterback where neither Tommy Carr nor Bryce Underwood should have anything promised to them for the 2027 season.
Overall, a seven win season would be a disappointment considering they won nine games last year with a lesser head coach who was more of a distraction than anything else.
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