Devon Dampier is still killing it at Utah and Beck looks mediocre at best.

Blaming the players is a bad look. Especially when the OC can't coach worth shit.

During the game, I said something along the lines of "what was that?!" in the moment this play finished, which has not been all that uncommon this year. But Jake and Devin tipped me off today on The Blue Print, and I'm now realizing it's even worse than I thought.

We ran a fake jet sweep with the only receiver on the field in the direction of a lanky QB listed under 200 lbs.

The defense has no need to even put a half second of emphasis on the action. The starting QB is not going to be risked as a main blocker. There's zero other receivers in the game, so that leaves a guaranteed run. The safeties can immediately play up and join what a already 7 in the box on defense.

For real, what were we trying to do here? Does a single scenario where this ever works actually exist?

Make it make sense!

Row 1 behind the MI bench. What signs should I bring?

#FreeZachMarshall

An image of a Rhino 🦏with a ❌

Ideas?

In the last 6 quarters (2 against Penn State & Indiana)

Michigan running
Between tackles 7.4 YPC
Outside the tackles 1.4 YPC

For the season
Between tackles 5.7
Outside tackles 3.3

For the 3.3 YPC outside tackles, that ranks us 136/138 in the country for the season

They’ve run the ball outside the tackles on 67% of their carries this season which is 5th most in college football, even though we’re clearly more successful between the tackles

We ran rhino over 50% of the time Saturday and the rhino (TE) released 2 times for a pass, once on the goal line. Therefore, we had 2/3 receivers against 4 DBs and 3 Linebackers when the RBs didn’t release or stayed in for pass protection

Absolutely horrible scheme

Just seeing how happy him and his teammates were on that final drive was so heart warming. I really needed that! I will always root McCarthy no matter what unless he's playing my Lions!

That’s why it’s so important we move away from Beck now and Whittingham wakes up and realizes this isn’t low stakes Utah.

We just saw against Indiana what we will see in Columbus if everything stays the same. I think Jay Hill and that defense will be healthy and ready to hold that offense down. But if Beck is still calling plays, we will squander all opportunities, settle for field goals and ultimately fall short despite a valiant effort by the kids.

A simple offense we master between now and then could be all we need. We must demote Beck from play calling and ideally fire him to win back the locker room he doesn’t realize he’s lost.

Fans, media, staff, boosters, donors please continue to ask hard questions and challenge Whittingham to wake up. Beating Ohio St is the only goal still on the table.

Coach Kyle, please understand…this is Michigan. Losing 3+ games isn’t acceptable. Losing to Ohio State isn’t acceptable. We can line up against anyone on any day and find a way to win. We expect to.

Do what needs to be done to give us the best chance in Columbus and to prove you get what this means to coach here.

Info Graphic

I've been digging pretty heavily into Michigan's offensive play-calling this season, trying to put some actual numbers behind what we've all been watching.

One thing that's frustrated me with Jason Beck's offense is how often we seem to run east-west instead of attacking downhill. So I wanted to see if the numbers actually backed that up.

I analyzed play-by-play data from 122 FBS teams through October 24, looking at how frequently teams run left or right compared to up the middle, and how productive those runs are.

Here's what I found:

How often Michigan runs east-west: - Michigan: 47.1% of directional runs - FBS average: 40.8% - Michigan ranks 26th out of 122 teams in frequency.

How effective those runs are: - Michigan: 4.09 yards per carry - FBS average: 5.89 yards per carry - Michigan ranks 117th out of 122 teams in production.

So Michigan runs east-west more frequently than roughly 79% of the teams in our dataset, despite being less productive on those runs than roughly 95% of them.

And here's another interesting part: Michigan averages 4.55 yards running up the middle, compared to 4.09 running left or right.

Now, there's an important distinction here. The play-by-play data identifies runs as left, middle, or right. Not every left or right run necessarily goes outside the tackles, so east-west is being used as a general description rather than a perfect classification.

And I'm not suggesting that every unsuccessful run is Beck's fault. Blocking, personnel, defensive alignment, and execution all matter.

But I do think it's fair to question why we're calling these runs at a higher rate than most of the country when we're getting considerably less production from them.

This is what I've been trying to understand about Beck's philosophy. Is he adapting his offense to what Michigan's players are actually doing well, or is he continuing to call the offense he wants to run regardless of the results?

I'm not arguing Michigan should exclusively run between the tackles. Obviously, you need variety to keep defenses honest.

But when you're near the bottom of FBS in production on a type of run you call more often than most teams, I think that's worth examining.

At what point does sticking with your offensive philosophy become refusing to adjust to your personnel?

Data Source & Methodology

All statistics were calculated using ESPN's college football play-by-play data for the 2026 season, through October 24.

I downloaded the individual game records and used Python to analyze rushing plays across 122 FBS programs with usable data.

Here's how the numbers were calculated:

• Rushing direction: Runs were classified as left, middle, or right using directional information in ESPN's play descriptions.
• East-west frequency: Left and right rushes were combined and divided by the total number of runs with an identifiable direction.
• Effectiveness: Total rushing yards divided by rushing attempts for the applicable direction.
• National comparison: Each team's frequency and yards-per-carry figures were calculated separately. The FBS averages represent the equally weighted average of the teams in the dataset, rather than pooling every rushing attempt together.
• Rankings: Teams were ranked by their percentage of left/right rushing attempts and their average yards per carry on those attempts.

A few important limitations: This is a 122-team sample, not every FBS program. ESPN's directional descriptions are not the same as detailed film charting, so some off-tackle runs may be classified alongside true outside runs. Quarterback rushes and scrambles may also be included. The frequency and efficiency figures were produced using slightly different classification filters, which is why their Michigan carry totals aren't identical.

This is descriptive analysis, not an opponent-adjusted efficiency model. It doesn't account for defensive strength, blocking assignments, or play design.

The goal isn't to claim these numbers prove Beck is a bad play-caller. It's to examine whether the actual production supports how frequently Michigan chooses to attack in certain directions.

Source: ESPN College Football — game-level play-by-play data, independently compiled and analyzed with Python.

Simply asking “what do you think the benefits of Rhino are” is not strong enough.

“Through 7 games your outside run and passing schemes have not worked at all yet you guys have continued to do the same thing after change was promised. What is causing you guys to stay on this broken path? Is it time to use last years scheme as that was much more successful?”

Should be the questions at the very least.

So I get Whit isn’t gonna fire Beck halfway through the season. But is he so thick to not understand Beck is literally costing us games?

What if he promotes Alford to co-offensive coordinator?

Just to play it out and see if there’s a difference? We’re literally doing the definition of crazy. And if we do this for the rest of the season then I’ll lose every ounce of respect for Whit.

DO. SOMETHING. DIFFERENT.

Hey my Fiancé got me ticket for my birthday we are driving from New York. I have a small grill and we’re going to do burgers dress up and a play music. Looking for someone to join. Or anyone can join us too.. we will be dressed in Michigan gear as well as being Cookies and Milk. Young Thirties couple.

"John, i love you. I love jj"

–Jim Harbaugh

Indiana regressed, Ohio State and Oregon both lost their QB’s to injuries, and UCLA is still a bit of an unknown.