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Michigan Football: Good News/Bad News From The Air Force Game

By Peter Arango

ANN ARBOR, MI - SEPTEMBER 16: Field goal kicker Quinn Nordin #3 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates a field goal with teammate Garrett Moores #15 during the third quarter of the game against the Air Force Falcons at Michigan Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan deleted Air Force Falcons 29-13. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - SEPTEMBER 16: Field goal kicker Quinn Nordin #3 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates a field goal with teammate Garrett Moores #15 during the third quarter of the game against the Air Force Falcons at Michigan Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan deleted Air Force Falcons 29-13. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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Looking at the good and bad from the 29-13 win over Air Force for Michigan football Saturday.

Michigan football fans have to wonder when the offense will gain traction.  Coach Jim Harbaugh’s sleep-over pal, Quinn Nordin put fifteen points on the board, and Ty Isaac had two touchdown runs called back, but there weren’t many electrifying moments on offense, and the Wolverines have turned the Red Zone into the Dead Zone, missing four opportunities to push the ball over the goal line.

Related Story: Complete breakdown of Air Force win

So, the bad news.  There’s something really wrong big picture with the offense.  Yes, Wilton Speight is not a playmaker; the best fans can hope for is efficient game management. Yes, Chris Evans didn’t look as powerful as he did a year ago, but Isaac has been surprisingly effective, and Peoples-Jones has all the right moves.

Anyone who watched any of the prime time games this weekend saw enviable talent, but they also saw imaginative and effective use of talent.  The NFL scooped up some great Michigan players in the draft, but the bigger loss may have been in the departure of Jedd Fischer for UCLA, where Rosen looks Chosen all over again, in part because Fischer knows how to alternate plays that give runners the edge and passing plays that allowed Speight to get the ball to receivers and allow Rosen to use the entire field.  The steady sameness of plunges down the middle in the red zone is clearly not working.

Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Tim Drevno took some responsibility when Speight came under fire last week.

“I’m very pleased with Wilton. We all have things we have to correct. It’s not all on Wilton. We have to do better offensively. As coaches and as players. (As coaches), that’s what we get paid to do.”

No, it’s not all on Wilton.  You may have put your finger on the problem coach.  You have to do better.

The good news is that if Drevno and Speight can get the ball in the air,  Michigan football has a receiving corps that could be terrifying.  Let the runners keep defenses honest, but, really, other than Quinn Nodin’s record-breaking accuracy as a kicker,  the (few) moments when Michigan football fans could stand and cheer have come from Crawford, Perry, Black, Peoples-Jones, McDoom, and newly converted tight end, Zach Gentry.

Give them the ball, coach.  Give them the bilnking ball.

Next: Top 10 Michigan Running Backs of All Time

The defense will certainly win some  games for Michigan, but the Blue are heading into conference play against teams that will test the defense.  It’s time for the offensive coordinator to step it up.

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