Many aspects of Michigan football's start to the 2026 season have been a surprise.
Jay Hill's defense, which finished top 15 in the nation in turnovers forced the past two years, has just three in four games. A team coached by Kyle Whittingham, known for leading with discipline, is in the bottom quarter nationally in penalties.
But perhaps most surprising of all, the Wolverines are struggling to run the football, which is startling for two reasons. First, U-M has a history of running with great success and entered this season on paper with a loaded running backs room that included Jordan Marshall, who had nearly 1,000 yards in 2025 despite operating as a second option for the first half of the season; and Savion Hiter, who joined the program as the No.
1-ranked high school running back in the nation.
Secondly, Utah was a ground game behemoth in 2025. With the same coach (Whittingham), offensive coordinator (Jason Beck) and offensive line coach (Jim Harding), Utah finished 2025 as the No. 1 team in the nation in yards per carry (6.0) and was No. 2 in the country in rushing yards per game (266.3) and rushing touchdowns (41).
An argument could be made that Big 12 defenses are not Big Ten (or in the case of Oklahoma, SEC) defenses, but that doesn't explain how in two games against Western Michigan and UTEP the Wolverines ran 67 times for 291 yards (4.3 yards per carry) without a single run of more than 15 yards.
“I think everything’s a work in progress, and we all are guilty of wanting instantaneous results,” running backs coach Tony Alford said this week on the "Inside Michigan Football" radio show. “It’s a process. We talked about that [Monday] morning, actually. It’s a process, and the big plays are going to come. Just keep doing your job and things are gonna develop. And when opportunities are there, you gotta make sure you capitalize on them."
So far, the backfield hasn't done so. Marshall's average carry distance has dropped from 6.2 to 4.3. Hiter is lower at 3.6 Overall, Michigan is tied for No. 89 in the country in rushing yards per game (149.0), and that's even with getting a boost from Bryce Underwood, who is two yards behind Marshall as the team's overall leader.
Overall, it's the first time in more than 20 years that Michigan went the entire month of September without having a single rusher pick up 100 yards in a game. The most pertinent questions now are what's been going wrong, and how can it be fixed?
For starters, the offensive line has had to shuffle with injuries, and there's a chance U-M could be looking at its fourth different combination of blockers in five games if Blake Frazier can't play on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Minnesota (Noon, Fox).
For his part, Marshall isn't concerned about the numbers.
"It's hard to get it when you're not having explosive runs to have a 100 yard game or whatever it is," Marshall said. "But you got three guys, four guys carrying the ball, you got me, [Bryson Kuzdzal], Savion, and you got Bryce carrying the ball. So we're really sharing carries with between four guys.
"But I hope you guys see it too, that we're close on offense."
But beyond that, there could be some scheme-related reasons.
“I think that in our zone game, in our duo game, we needed to speed up the mesh mechanics,” Alford said. “I saw it or thought about it during training camp a little bit. ... I just think we’re a little too far behind the blocks. So then we had to start speeding up the mechanics of it so we can get on top of things a little bit quicker.
“That’s not the offensive line. That’s the running backs and the mesh mechanics of things. So there’s a lot that goes into that. People just see the end result and say, 'Oh, the line didn’t do this, didn’t do that.' There’s a lot that goes into that. You can only sustain a block for so long.
"If you’re not into those blocks as far as the back goes, and within range to get in and out of holes quick enough, that ultimately affects everything.”
Despite not having a ton of success in terms of chunk plays on the ground, Michigan has continued to lean on its rushing attack. The Wolverines have run the ball 146 times compared to 94 pass attempts; Whittingham says the ratio should be closer to 50-50 "when the team is operating at its best."
But the pass game has recently shown more life, which could not only lend itself to more opportunities, but would lighten the load in the box for the running backs when they are asked to keep it on the ground. Whittingham said he's seeing improvement, but it wasn't as clear in the eye test as the progression from the passing game.
An unreliable ground game is a major reason U-M is tied for No. 118 in red zone offense and No. 93 in scoring (25.2 points per game). It all needs to change for Michigan to reach its ceiling.
"We are starting to get enough from the run game," Whittingham said. "I think the run game was blocked up pretty good [against Iowa]. ... There's some good things going on, but we're still a work in progress."
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football was supposed to have an elite run game. What happened?
