10 months removed from a national championship, Michigan got to witness firsthand what this year’s elite looks like. Our takeaways following the loss to Oregon on Saturday:
The scoreboard said the Michigan Wolverines lost by 21 to No. 1 Oregon, which was more than enough to cover the spread that made Michigan huge home underdogs. There was no doubt which one of these teams is going to make a playoff run this season, and the visitors controlled nearly the whole game on Saturday afternoon.
And yet — there are some positives to take away. Sure, there are plenty of frustrations as well, but the contest actually felt much closer than three scores. As good as the Ducks are, it felt like Michigan (again) shot itself in the foot to help its opponents out. A clean effort may not have yielded the upset, but it would have perhaps shown this program is not a complete dumpster fire.
Practice, practice, practice
How you practice is how you play, so they say, but obviously there is a big difference between the two. While some of Oregon’s best performances come at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts , I am starting to see that Davis Warren’s best performances came on the practice field. Since his return to the starting spot, Warren has show flashes of brilliance — while keeping the ball much safer — finally showing the world what his coaches saw this summer.
The problem is that practice situations are managed: contact is limited, scenarios are scripted, and pressure is minimized. When opposing defenders are live, Warren gets skittish; he bails too early and struggles to progress through his reads. However, he clearly has the ability to make some plays, and his ability to do so in practice is almost assuredly what got him the job in the first place.
Warren is not the long-term solution for this team, but he will do for the final few games. Both touchdowns against Oregon were legitimately impressive, and he now has two clean games in a row with a workable 7.2 YPA. No one is watching the tape from the weekend and mistaking him for J.J. McCarthy, but it is nice to see that the coaches were not completely crazy to claim this player can work at quarterback.
Roses and thorns
Eugene’s Owen Rose Garden is filled with plenty of beauty, but look closer and there are lingering thorns as well. At a macro level, this is concept hits home for a Michigan team that was celebrating euphorically at the Rose Bowl just 10 months ago, but it also speaks to the current state of this team, which was as apparent as ever in the defeat to Oregon.
This roster is not without talent, with Colston Loveland keeping his team in the game Saturday, Tyler Morris and Donovan Edwards making some highlights, and Derrick Moore, Mason Graham, and the front four anchoring the defense. Special teams showed up too, with the early fumble on the punt return and Dominic Zvada’s continued stability. The ceiling on this team is lower than the past few years, but the pieces are there for something solid.
Instead, the thorns continue to be back-breaking. The brutal special teams formation penalty. Continued weakness to draws in the run game. Bizarre fourth-down play calling in the red zone. For as much good that this team has shown at times, the sting of the negatives is the feeling that is going to last, and frankly that is completely justified. Positives are nice, but when they are wiped away by weakness more often than not it is fair to question how meaningful they even are.
Just Do It
Nike and Oregon are basically synonymous at this point, which feels fitting for these current Ducks. Nike is not everyone’s favorite, but it is the standard in the sports apparel industry, and this weekend Michigan got a close glimpse at the standard of the 2024 college football world. The Ducks may not win the national championship but have everything needed to do so; meanwhile, the Wolverines look like store-brand gym clothes on the discount rack.
Dillon Gabriel played masterfully, utilizing the plethora of weapons around him. Tez Johnson went out, but it did not stop the offense at all, and it never felt like Oregon was struggling to move the ball downfield. Likewise, the defense was everywhere, shutting down the run game and constantly flushing Warren out of the pocket. Michigan receivers are not great, but they were blanketed all game long.
Michigan of course knows what a national championship team looks like, but the climb back there is going to be difficult. The Ducks are a different build than the 2023 Wolverines, and they too are miles above the current offering in Ann Arbor. Upgrades are needed across the roster, as is coaching to deploy them properly when they come. Until then, this will not be the last time it feels like Michigan gets smoked in a track meet.