Michigan Football Gets By Air Force: Quick Reactions

For the second straight week, “It wasn’t pretty.” But Michigan football is 3-0 now. How did the Wolverines look in their final non-conference game?

It was well known that Air Force would be giving Michigan a different look with its triple-option attack, but once again, the focus shifted away from a young defense and was placed squarely on a lackluster offense.

The Wolverines scored one offensive touchdown in a 29-13 win over the Falcons. Quinn Nordin continued strengthening his right leg with five field goals, and Donovan Peoples-Jones returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown. Aside from struggling to score, Michigan also committed another turnover when Chris Evans coughed up the ball on a run in the first quarter.

As was said before the game, it would’ve taken a pretty significant margin of victory for a win to do much for the Wolverines, and 16 points in a one-touchdown effort did not do that. In fact, the same worries still exist—they might even be getting stronger.

The biggest issues were in the red zone. Michigan got there repeatedly, sometimes using a decent drive to do so, and then things stalled. In the first two weeks, the Wolverines had only one touchdown in six red zone visits. Against Air Force, Michigan got inside the 20 four times and settled for a field goal each time.

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You could say there was not one positive thing the Michigan offense put on display against Air Force and not too many people would argue. However, in the spirit of trying to be positive, the Wolverines did finish the game with a touchdown drive. That situation—being up on the scoreboard and just needing to string together a scoring drive to put the game on ice—has haunted Michigan in the past.

So there’s that.

Also, Ty Isaac continued to show that he’s the No. 1 running back. Unfortunately, he got banged up with what we reported by BTN to be a lower abdomen injury. He was eventually taken back to the locker room in the fourth quarter. Before hie left, though, Isaac gained 89 yards on 16 carries. Those numbers could have been better had it not been for a long touchdown run that was called back because of a penalty.

It was great to see the defense mostly hold up against the option attack, but it’s difficult to apply long-term trends to an abnormal game like this. What can be said without a doubt is that Devin Bush continued to be electric, the cornerbacks were reliable in run support on the edge, and the defensive front got good pressure when the Falcons dialed up a pass.

Next: Top 10 running backs in Michigan history

As was the case last week, it’s difficult to find things after this win to be excited about—other than the fact that it was a win. Glaring issues still exist, and better teams are approaching on the schedule.

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