Michigan Football: Important takeaways from loss to Penn State

Michigan football will be fortunate to get 8 or 9 wins

There were a couple of truths that hit hard during Michigan’s 42-13 loss to Penn State. One was that the Wolverines are dead in the Big Ten title race. The other is that getting eight wins in the regular season is going to be a chore.

In short, Michigan football is not nearly as good as we thought. In fact, it’s nothing more than a middle-of-the-road Big Ten team. The Wolverines have a great defense, but they also have an offense that lacks a single dynamic player. In Michigan’s two biggest games, it has generated 23 points. Not matter how good the defense is, that’s not enough. Maybe 70 years ago, but not in the modern era.

The good news is that Rutgers is on tap this week, except for the fact that Rutgers has as many Big Ten wins (2) as the Wolverines. The Scarlet Knights also have two wins in a row. Michigan should win, but it might not be as easy as once thought.

Beating Minnesota and Maryland doesn’t seem like a sure thing either. If Michigan can hold serve in the next three games, it would be 8-2 going into Wisconsin and Ohio State. That would be a good place to be, but UM is going to have to grind out wins to get there.

Obviously, one loss is just one loss. Michigan dominated Penn State last year 49-10 and look at the shift now between the two teams. One loss doesn’t define a program.

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However, the consistent lack of offensive production and failure to produce in big games is concerning, even for the most optimistic Michigan football observer.