Was Michigan's Oklahoma game plan 'conservative?' Chip Lindsey explains why Wolverines played it safe

Michigan Wolverines football’s offense scored only 13 points in a loss at Oklahoma over the weekend, failing to accumulate 300 total yards for the 10th time in 15 games with Sherrone Moore as the full-time head coach (since 2024).

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Lindsey weighed in on why Michigan’s offense lacked rhythm, pointing to the Wolverines’ 3-of-14 mark on third down as a major issue in the 24-13 setback in Norman.

“First of all, you have to give some credibility to Oklahoma,” he said Wednesday. “They have a good defense, they do a good job. They’ve improved their defense, and they were really good last year. So, that starts with that. But going into that game, we were like, hey, we need to win the time of possession, we need to not turn the ball over.

“And to win the time of possession, you have to be good on third down — and we weren’t. I think that’s the story of the game. Our goal is to be 50 percent on third down. We weren’t that. Therefore, we didn’t get to stay on the field. Therefore, their offense plays more plays, and everything kind of ties together.”

Outside of a 75-yard touchdown run by junior running back Justice Haynes, the ground game wasn’t every effective, going for only 71 yards on 31 attempts. But that, plus the fact that Michigan was trailing each time it had the football, didn’t stop the Wolverines from calling 30 designed runs compared to 26 dropbacks and playing it safer on third downs.

A reporter alluded to Michigan’s game plan being ‘conservative,’ asking Lindsey if he felt the Wolverines were indeed dialing back risk.

“There was definitely a philosophy of, hey, to win this game as a team … I think everything starts with, how do we win the game? That’s what we’re about here,” Lindsey began in his reply. “And really, to do that, it goes back to possessing the ball. And if we execute on third downs a little better and stay on the field, I think things play out a little different for us. We didn’t get that done.

“There was definitely a concerted effort to make sure we possess the ball and do a good job of that, and obviously we didn’t do it good enough.”

Michigan lost the time of possession battle, 32:12 to 27:48, and ran only 56 plays compared to Oklahoma’s 74. Sixteen of the Sooners’ plays came on their last non-kneel-down drive, chewing up over 8 minutes of clock time.

Third down was an issue, but because of first and second down, too. Michigan averaged 4.9 yards per play on first down. Meanwhile, the Maize and Blue faced an average of 8.4 yards to go on third down because of lack of early-down productivity.

“You’ve got to be better on first and second down so you can be better, because you’ll have shorter third downs. I think that’s a great point,” Lindsey said. 

“Speaking to our runs, we did have the explosive run, but some of our runs were 1- and 2-yard runs or a TFL. So, we’ve got to get in more manageable third downs.”

On third down, Michigan rushed 5 times, converting twice. The Wolverines threw 9 times, moving the chains just once, on a 38-yard completion from freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood to graduate wide receiver Donaven McCulley.

Underwood was 1-of-9 passing on third down. On those 9 pass attempts, only 3 were thrown past the first-down marker, with 6 of them going shorter than the sticks for only 9 yards. On the 6 thrown short of the sticks, Underwood’s average throw depth was 1 yard down the field.

“I do think there are some times, when you’re facing man coverage teams, there are some run-and-catch first-down opportunities that we were hunting there,” Lindsey pointed out. “And then a couple times we got fooled on the coverage. But each week, you’re trying to build the best plan you can that catches everything you might see.

“Looking back, I need to do a better job of giving him better opportunities.”

Michigan’s next opportunity comes Saturday afternoon against Central Michigan, the second of six Wolverine home games this season.