As Michigan football gets ready to play Rutgers on Halloween, you wonder if there is anything more frightening than what the Wolverines have trotted out on offense.
Michigan football ranks outside the top 100 in every major category: scoring, total offense, passing offense, rush offense. You name it. If there is an offensive statisic, the Wolverines are bad at it.
That's why it's hard to understand how Jason Beck still has a job, although there are millions of reasons for it. With a void in leadership, who even makes the call to fire Beck? Warde Manuel?
Does he have the authority to pay millions of dollars to fire an offensive coordinator seven games into a three-year contract? I honestly don't know. I don't know of anyone else who does either. Hell, Kyle Whittingham might not even know.
It's a mess. This season has been a debacle. Losing to Rutgers would only make it worse. Then, Whittingham really would be on the hot seat.
In order to avoid that, here are five Wolverines who need to step up against Rutgers.
The entire offensive line
Frankly, it doesn't matter who is out there. Michigan has the talent advantage over Rutgers. Jake Guarnera is probable this week. Blake Frazier might be back.
Either way, this group needs to get tougher. Last week against Indiana was rough. They got owned, which is one reason the offense couldn't score inside the 10. The O-line couldn't block.
That needs to change and it should against a Rutgers team allowing 5.8 yards per rushing attempt.
Tommy Carr
The Michigan coaching staff didn't do Tommy Carr any favors by starting him against Indiana. However, he played pretty well in the second half. He missed open receivers. But he got Michigan into scoring range on the final drive of regulation.
What Carr can't do is have the mistakes that he had last week. The speed option pitch should never have happened. The interception either. It was thrown into triple coverage.
You have to wonder why Michigan is even running the speed option, although it did go for a touchdown against Penn State. Regardless of the play call, Carr needs to protect the ball. That's his No. 1 job, and he didn't do it against Indiana.
Manuel Beigel
As ill-advised as it has been to play a former defensive tackle as an extra offensive lineman, Michigan seems committed to Manuel Beigel in that role.
Avery Gach has been the Rhino at times. It feels like Andrew Babalola would have been the perfect guy, but he still hasn't made his way onto the field 20 games into his Michigan football career.
Still, if Beigel is going to play as the Rhino, he simply has to be better at identifying who to block, as well as being better at executing the block. That just hasn't happened enough.
John Henry Daley
The preseason All-American has been battling injury all season, it feels like. He has been hampered since the Iowa game, but has only produced 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss in four Big Ten games.
Those aren't bad numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but it feels like we haven't seen Henry Daley at his best.
Saturday, against a Rutgers defense that is 12th in the Big Ten in sacks allowed during conference play, Henry Daley should have a chance to get home multiple times.
And with the way the offense has struggled, the defense has to go into the game thinking it might need to pitch a shutout to ensure a win.
Trey Butkowski
When you have arguably the second-worst offense in the Power 4 (Michigan State might be worse), you can't leave points on the table. Trey Butkowski missed two field goals last week. One was over 50 yards. The other was under 40.
If Butkowski makes one of those field goals, maybe Michigan football beats Indiana. The Hoosiers probably would have played less conservatively, but the point stands: when the Wolverines get in scoring range, they have to score, even if it's just three points.
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