The Michigan football bye week should serve as gut-check time for offensive coordinator Jason Beck. Not Bryce Underwood.
Underwood has to be accountable for his play, which hasn't been good enough. Yet, the decisions of his offensive coordinator have made Underwood's job more difficult than it needs to be.
The Rhino package needs to be trashed. It should never be employed as often as Michigan is using it, at least without some sort of counter. Teams are teeing off on Michigan's offensive line because there is a player out there who can't run a route.
It feels like a spread offense would be better. At least the defense would have to account for four wide receivers, and the offernsive line would know who to block.
That's one of the biggest problems. Beck is asking the offensive line to do too much. When they are assignment sure, they have been solid. They got a solid push against Oklahoma and Iowa.
People want to point the finger at Underwood. He deserves criticism. But the second interception against Minnesota was a weird play call. A split-zone RPO. That's my best guess. The tight end was supposed to block the defensive end, and Michigan was crashing those guys hard to the quarterback.
That result was predictable, or it should have been for Jason Beck. His inability to anticipate or counter what the defense is doing is Michigan's biggest issue, other than the fact that he seems to want his system to work more than he cares about the Wolverines moving the ball.
The third-down Jordan Marshall wildcat was a perfect example. Beck threw away an easy first down and lost yards to the point of punting, simply due to a poor play call.
Beck and Michigan football need to get back to basics. The top priority should be getting Bryce comfortable early in games. He was comfortable against Oklahoma and Iowa. Not so much against Western Michigan.
Been thinking more and more about where Michigan is at. Certainly feels like a pressure cooker and a fork in the road. Can point fingers and throw in the towel or every player and coach can say “I haven’t been good enough. I will do whatever it takes to be better.” Which is what…
— Jake Butt (@Jbooty88) October 8, 2026
Michigan's poor running game has to get fixed
A quarterback's best friend, besides the tight end, is a running game. The running backs have to get going. As Jake Butt, a Big Ten analyst, said, "No way in hell should this team be 100th in rushing in the FBS."
The quarterback has lost confidence. The offensive line doesn't seem to be confident in what it's doing, and players are openly questioning the coaching staff (see Zach Marshall texts).
That's not all on the coordinator, but most of it is, and if what Marshall said about Beck telling Underwood where to throw the ball, it makes it even worse.
There are issues with Underwood. He's going to improve, though. He already has. Iowa was his best game. Minnesota was his worst. He's somewhere in between with the chance to be the guy he was against Iowa every week.
Getting some help from the offensive coordinator would be nice. Benching Underwood won't fix anything. It would cause more problems than it would solve. Urban Meyer said Underwood is Michigan's only first-round athlete. Does Michigan want to give up on him so early?
Whittingham said tough conversations need to be had this week. Hopefully, he meant with his offensive coordinator.
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