Offense notes: Michigan shut down by Ohio State, fails to score touchdown for first time in over decade

Michigan Wolverines football fell to Ohio State, 27-9, Saturday in Ann Arbor, putting forth a dismal offensive performance. For the first time since a 31-0 loss to Notre Dame Sept. 6, 2014, Michigan didn’t score a touchdown in a game. The Maize and Blue recorded only 163 total yards, their fewest in a contest since tallying 158 in a 24-21 loss to Iowa Sept. 23, 2013 (158).

Michigan started the game strong, with a 36-yard rush by sophomore running back Jordan Marshall on the first play from scrimmage. That was one of four plays of 20-plus yards. The Wolverines had 105 yards on those four, and 58 on everything else.

All told, Michigan was out-rushed 186-100, out-gained through the air 233-63 and had only 9 first downs to the Buckeyes’ 22.

Michigan settled for a field goal after getting a short field on a turnover early on, 1 of 3 for the game. The lack of rushing success loomed large, with the Wolverines rushing for a season-low 100 yards, including minus-8 in the second half. Ohio State dominated time of possession, 40:01 to 19:59, and the Maize and Blue went 1-of-9 on third down and 0-of-1 with an interception on fourth.

Michigan hit some rushes early on but didn’t have another dimension to the offense, and then the run game went away, too.

“You always want to be balanced,” head coach Sherrone Moore said. “I think just when it starts working, you know, things start … the first run of the game is however many [yards] it was, you, and you lean on that a little bit more, you know? I think that wasn’t the plan. You wanted to be balanced on what we did. But when you’re successful in the run game like that, that’s what you want to do. But again, we didn’t do a good enough job of doing that in the second half.”

Marshall came into the game battling a shoulder injury that flared up again late in the first quarter. He came back in at one point in the third quarter, but was much less effective. He finished with 7 carries for 61 yards, while junior Bryson Kuzdzal carried the bulk of the load with 11 attempts for 38 yards.

“Yeah, he reaggravated, but just got back in there and tried to push a little bit more,” Moore said of Marshall’s injury. “I mean, Jordan Marshall is a really good player, and when you have him, it puts a positive impact on your offense. So, it was a huge piece for us to have him. When he went down, but we had a lot of trust in Kuz like we showed last week. So, the plan doesn’t change.

“There are bigger things in pass protections that you might have to do a little bit different because he’s a bigger back, and we’ve got to continue to evaluate all those things.”

Michigan passing game not there

The passing game was nearly non-existent, with Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood completing 8 of his 18 throws for 63 yards and a pick on fourth down.

“We didn’t protect well enough,” Moore said. “We didn’t get the guys open enough, all those things. But again, it’s a team effort. There’s no blame. There’s no pointing fingers, right? It’s a whole team effort.

“We’ve got to work to get better at all those things for both those guys, for all those players. So, again, we’ll continue to go back to what we need to get better at.”

The only Michigan pass-catcher with over 10 yards was graduate wideout Donaven McCulley (3 for 46), while freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh — who had broken out in recent weeks — wasn’t targeted, though he did draw a pass interference call.

For Underwood, Moore hopes that he channels the emotions after the loss and uses them as fuel for the future.

“I just want him to feel the feeling like he feels right now,” the Michigan coach said. “That’s really the biggest thing that’ll motivate him enough to be as good as he can be. So, the feeling that he has, that stinging feeling he has as, as well as all the players and coaches … embrace that feeling that you have of that loss. It will motivate you throughout the year.”

Miscellaneous Michigan football notes

• Michigan had 100 rushing yards, its fewest in a game since having 69 in a 20-15 loss to Indiana.

• The Wolverines scored their fewest amount of points since having only 7 in a 21-7 loss to Illinois last October.

• This is the lowest point total for Michigan against Ohio State since a 37-7 loss Nov. 27, 2010.

• The team that has won the rushing battle in this game has won the contest in 24 consecutive matchups (2001-present; 2020 not contested).

• The Wolverines finish the regular season with 59 plays (36 passing, 23 rushing) of 20-plus yards on offense, including four in today’s game.

• OSU’s defense entered the game averaging 6.1 tackles for loss per game, but U-M limited the Buckeyes to three.