Michigan Football: How do you spell McCaffrey?

Michigan football gave us all hope for 30 minutes Saturday, but then it all fell to pieces. Can anyone say or spell Dylan McCaffrey?

For 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon, Michigan football outplayed the fifth-ranked team in the country at Camp Randall Stadium.

Related Story: Brandon Peters not ruled out for Ohio State

Wisconsin entered the game undefeated, and Michigan was looking to play spoiler and find a way to redeem the 2016 season, closing out with a win against either Wisconsin or Ohio State, or maybe both.

The 7-7 score at halftime was enough to make a believer out of me yet again.

And then of course the wheels came off, as they always do. A fumble at the goal line, a punt return for a touchdown (that on replay is nearly impossible to watch), plus a couple of questionable calls by the referees, one of which took a touchdown away from Donovan Peoples-Jones.

But wait. That’s not all. Michigan football  lost its third-string quarterback, Brandon Peters, because the offensive line has now given up 29 sacks in 11 games (compared to 22 sacks over 13 games in 2016).

Peters was driven into the ground by Badgers linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and after lying motionless on the field for several minutes left the field on a cart. It should be obvious that Peters won’t be playing next week against Ohio State.

I don’t even know where to begin.

After a shaky start with some overthrown passes, Peters settled down and looked like the quarterback of the future, making me wonder why Peters didn’t start earlier in the season – against Michigan State, for example.

The quarterback depth chart this season has been a complete mystery to me, unless the coaching staff was trying to protect Peters from what happened on Saturday.

Michigan Wolverines Football

I’ve already mentioned the shameful play of the offensive line, which allowed the same thing to happen to Peters that happened to Wilton Speight earlier in the season. And I haven’t even mentioned the 1.6 yards per carry average in the rushing game because there was nowhere to run.

But the blame isn’t entirely with the O-line. UM still has a bunch of receivers who either can’t get open or can’t catch the ball when it’s thrown in their direction. Peoples-Jones seems to be making progress, but the rest have been up and down, without much consistency in the whole bunch.

And then – three time outs in the first quarter? I can’t remember the last time a Michigan offense burned three time outs in the first quarter due to – what was it exactly – general confusion?

Michigan has a storied football program with the most wins in college football history and the highest winning percentage. Throw in attendance records, those distinctive winged helmets, and the best fight song in the country, and you have a program that should be competing for more this season than a top 25 ranking. (The coaches poll has dropped Michigan from the top 25 in week 13.)

The last Heisman Trophy winner played for Michigan in 1997, which was the last year Michigan won a national championship.  Not 20 years of futility, exactly, a lot of good players and fun games in there, but the years of dominating play are a distant memory. Michigan can beat Rutgers, but it can no longer win the big games in November.

Next: Top 10 Michigan Running Backs of All Time

And with Ohio State coming to Ann Arbor next weekend, I’m thinking that things could get even uglier. How do you spell McCaffrey?