Michigan Spent Huge Dollars on Blue Chip Talent. So Why is the Offense Broke?

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Forget the adage, “You get what you pay for.” It doesn’t add up when it comes to Michigan football this season.

Almost 48 percent of Michigan’s 106-man football roster wears the label of Blue-Chip athlete – which is a 5- or 4-star rated player. The Wolverines have four 5-star players and a whopping 39 4-star talents.

But all the NIL dollars spent on talent has translated to wins on Saturday. Even more concerning, Michigan is losing to teams with rosters which pale in comparison.

Iowa danced out of Michigan Stadium with a last-second 20-19 win after driving 91 yards in the final 1:46 on Wolverines home turf in the Big Ten opener.

Yet Iowa doesn’t have a single five-star player on its entire 111-man roster. And with just 15 4-star athletes, only 18.3 percent of its roster is considered Blue Chip caliber.

A week later, Minnesota, with only 15 percent of its roster labeled Blue Chip, completely smothered Michigan’s offense, holding the Wolverines to 180 total yards, and seizing the Little Brown Jug for the first time at home since 1977.

But it gets even scarier.

Western Michigan, which lost to Michigan 13-12 on the game’s controversial final Hail Mary touchdown pass, has zero, zilch, nada Blue Chip players.

So, who’s to blame?

Well, it’s always been the American way to blame the quarterback first, then the head coach in these situations. But Michigan seems to be getting worse, which means the problem might run deeper.

Just glancing over the numbers, Michigan, for the most part, has played well on defense, which is ranked 23rd in the country for fewest points allowed per game at 15.8. With that stat alone, Michigan should be 5-0 heading into its bye week.

Fingers have been pointed at the quarterback, offensive line, penalties, turnover ratio, the running game and the play calling. Take your pick because the numbers are just bad everywhere.

The most bothersome is the rushing yards – traditionally a hallmark category for Michigan football. But this season, the Wolverines have amassed just 675 yards rushing, and 185 of those came in the UTEP win.

A lot of people are beginning to point fingers at offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who came over with head coach Kyle Whittingham from Utah.

In just one season as offensive coordinator with the Utes, Beck’s offense finished fifth nationally averaging 41.1 points. And here’s the kicker, his rushing attack finished second nationally averaging 270 yards per game.

So why can’t Michigan move the football and score points?

It’s been said a team’s biggest improvement comes between Week 1 and Week 2, and after upsetting Oklahoma, it appeared that was going to be true for the Maize and Blue – but it didn’t happen.

Michigan has its bye week now before hosting Penn State on Oct. 17. That is more than enough time for Whittingham’s coaching staff to analyze and fix the problems – especially on offense.

Beck needs to figure out a game plan that works and fast. Because with all this Blue-Chip talent, it’s hard to blame the players.

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Michigan Spent Huge Dollars on Blue Chip Talent. So Why is the Offense Broke?

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