Observations on the first half with Rutgers, 7-17

Rutgers completely dominated the inept Wolverine squad with 3 red zones for 17 points; Michigan couldn't gain one red zone, and turned the ball over on a fumble. Rutgers was unable to capitalize on the turnover.

Offense was non-existent! Michigan gained 11 first downs with 17 yards on the ground and 202 in the air for a total of 219 yards on 39 plays. Michigan was 5 of 11 in 3rd and 4th down conversions. Joe Milton hurried his way to 5 of 12 for 89 yards, and was sacked twice; he has little poise, and can't read a corner blitz so Coach Schiano has given him a steady diet of blitzes that he can't handle. Cade McNamara was 10 of 12 for 113 yards and a TD throw of 46 yards to Cornelius Johnson who had 3 catches for 86 yards. Giles Jackson, Mike Sainristil, and Nick Eubanks caught 2 passes each, and Chris Evans caught 3 passes for 9 yards. Hassan Haskins gained 16 yards in 6 carries. Olakunle Futakasi had 8 tackles including 2 for loss.

Defense wasn't much better. Rutgers had 11 first downs, 220 yards on 38 offensive plays with 163 in the air. Noah Vedral was 14 of 21 for 162 yards, and was 3 of 8 in 3rd down conversions; he ran 4 times for 20 yards after one sack. Shameen Jones had 3 catches for 66 yards. Vincent Gray and Brad Hawkins have 6 tackles each.

Special Teams was bad as well. Quinn Nordin missed two field goals; the last was the snapper's fault with a high snap. Brad Robbins had 2 punts. Giles Jackson had 2 kickoff returns, but 4 fair catches on punts. Rutgers hit their only field goal attempt.

It is hard to root for such an inept group of Michigan Football players who aren't playing to capabilities, and who are poorly prepared and poorly coached. The best thing that this coaching staff can do is resign, and leave the team to the graduate assistants to manage for the rest of the season. I'm not expecting a win or a comeback; this squad is among the worst teams in the Big Ten in 2020. We were beat by a more aggressive and better coached Michigan State team, and now we are being outplayed by the other worst team in the conference by Rutgers. Rutgers was a team that we defeated 78-0 in 2016, and now this is how far we've plummeted over the past 4 seasons.