Okay, one thing that you need to know about the Michigan Wolverine offense is that Quinn Nordin is probably their MVP so far this season. We'll get to him in a second, but one thing to keep in mind before you drench yourself in smugness like a weird kid at camp slathering himself with peanut butter is that Ohio State has been in the exact same situation before (that, by the way, is a super deep cut from the archives; it's the first thing I ever wrote for Eleven Warriors).
Wilton Speight is decidedly not the Michigan offensive MVP. Completing just over half your passes with no touchdowns in a 29-13 win over a service academy isn't going to win you a ton of supporters. Just like their rivals to the south, the natives are getting restless.
Harbaugh's says he likes where the offense is at after three games this year. ... "I like where our team is headed."
— Josh Newkirk (@JoshNewkirk7) September 16, 2017
That won't help, especially when Jim Harbaugh has a propensity to write off any and all questions about the clearly super crappy offense with a massive eyeroll and one of those huffs that my dog makes when he sees something through the window that pisses him off (anything).
THREAT LEVEL
Michigan is still undefeated in three games, with a win over a semi-quality opponent. Ohio State is not those things. Because that's all that most people are going to look at when it comes to voting, Michigan gets the bump and is now a spot ahead of the Buckeyes in the polls.
And that's fine! Both teams are remarkably similar in opposite ways; Michigan has a legitimately incredible defense that's ranked 5th in the country, and Ohio State is 78th. Ohio State seems to be figuring out at least some way to get yards on offense, and is ranked 17th nationally. Michigan, uh... has not, and is ranked 72nd.
Which brings me back to Quinn Nordin. Nordin is 11/13 on field goals this season, and on Saturday his field goals accounted for 15 of the Wolverine's 29 points. It's cool in a really lame Big Ten way, but it isn't sustainable. Michigan running back Ty Isaac was fine against Air Force, but the plain truth is that their offense seems to be regressing, no matter what Harbaugh says.
Because of this, we'll lower this week's Threat Level to GUARDED, and guess what guys? America's most exciting team, the Purdue Boilermakers, host Nordin and company next week. Choo-choo, suckers.
