Why Michigan Football offense is scoring less in 2023

Explosive Plays

A common argument made alongside the new clock rules is a lack of explosiveness from the Michigan offense.

Part of Michigan’s philosophy is to play offense at a slower pace, hold the ball, and keep the opponent from getting as many chances to score.

With a team like Michigan that can play disciplined and consistently execute well it is a very effective strategy but also rather unexciting for fans.

Naturally with this style, Michigan football isn’t going to have as many explosive plays (plays that gain 20 yards or more) as other teams around the country.

In the past few seasons, however, Michigan has sneakily racked up a lot of explosive plays somewhat destroying this narrative. These usually come off of long runs when opposing defenses wear out, eventually, miss an assignment on one play, and give Blake Corum or Donovan Edwards a huge running lane.

So far this season Michigan football only has 21 by definition explosive plays compared to 24 a year ago. A slight drop off, but almost identical when you account for the Wolverines running fewer plays per game as a result of the new clock rules.