Remember last season when the Spartans compiled their worst Rushing Offense in 125 years of football by averaging just 91 Yards Rushing per game?
Well, the Spartans Rushing Offense started this season by compiling 326 Rushing Yards vs Northwestern. Then posted 272 Rushing Yards vs Youngstown State and then 193 Rushing Yards vs Miami for 791 Rushing Yards in 3 games or an average of 264 Yards Rushing per game.
Problem fixed, right?
Not so fast!!!
The Spartan Rushing Offense stumbled and fell last weekend. Nebraska, which has a good but not great Rushing Defense, sealed the edges and plugged all the gaps along the Defensive Line, and the Spartans reverted to their Rushing dysfunctionality of 2020 and managed just 71 Yards Rushing on their way to eking out a 23-20 victory.
And while it is hard to conceive, nevertheless the Spartans Rushing Offense got worse as the game went on.
As Nebraska adjusted their Defense into “lock down” mode in the 2nd Half, on the other hand the Spartans seemingly made zero blocking adjustments, got no push off the line, and may just as well have “mailed it in” in the 2nd half. On 7 Rushing attempts in the 2nd Half, the Spartans gained just 2 Yards.
Moreover, in the 4th Qtr, the Rushing Offense compiled minus 8 Yards (-8) on 3 Rushing attempts…think about that? Minus 8 Yards?
So, hopefully Mel Tucker ordered his Offensive coaching staff back to the drawing board this week to fix the problem, because minus Rushing Yardage won’t play well in the heart of the Big Ten schedule, and the Spartans can thank their lucky stars that Nebraska self-destructed which enabled the Spartans to clutch a victory from the jaws of defeat.
Now comes Western Kentucky, but the so called “Hilltoppers” won’t lay down as an automatic Homecoming victory for the Spartans.
The Spartans porous Passing Defense is yielding a whopping 264 Yards per game (#107 in the land) while Western Kentucky Passing Offense is ranked #1 in the land averaging an extraordinary 426 Yards per game. Something is going to give.
There’s a possibility of rain, but if it’s a dry field, then look out, because Western Kentucky is prepared to throw the football all night long and that’s likely to be an ominous problem for Harlon Barnett’s “soft/bend but don’t break” Passing Defense!
And what about Michigan?
Until last weekend, Michigan boasted a Rushing Offense that was averaging a robust 350 Yards per game.
Yet Rutgers stopped Michigan’s Rushing Offense in its tracks, yielding just 112 Rushing Yards total. But more problematically, Michigan wilted in the 2nd Half and Rutgers virtually shut down Michigan, yielding just 42 Rushing Yards.
Now comes the first real test for Michigan. They travel to Wisconsin where they haven’t won since 2001, and moreover, Wisconsin boasts the #1 Rushing Defense in the land, yielding just 23 Rushing Yards per game. On the other side of the football, Wisconsin boasts a solid Rushing Offense averaging over 200 Yards per game.
Of course, Wisconsin QB, Graham Mertz has been a liability in his own regard. Very unlike Wisconsin error free QB’s of recent years, Mertz has become a “turnover machine”, but Michigan has a bigger liability in its own Passing Offense, and that is…Michigan’s Passing Offense is simply stated…Jim Harbaugh-esq, “Dysfunctional” and ranked #115 in the land.
Wisconsin rarely loses at home, and they will not lose to Jim Harbaugh, and let’s be clear, Jim Harbaugh has proven since coming to Michigan in 2015 that he is incapable of beating good teams on the road.
Unless something goes horribly wrong for Wisconsin, they will be patient and slug it out in the trenches, grind it out, and Wisconsin will hang a “W”.
Thank you for reading.
