It’s my understanding that the B1G East is the best division in college football. Period.

It has at least one legitimate national title contender in Penn State, which boasts arguably the best 1-2 offensive punch in the country. It has Ohio State, which might not have picked up that huge Oklahoma win, but it’s still very much in the College Football Playoff conversation. It even has Michigan State, which is unbeaten in conference play and boasts one loss to a vastly improved Notre Dame team.

Then there’s Michigan.

The Wolverines spent Saturday afternoon struggling to do much of anything against an Indiana team that other B1G East contenders dominated. Sure, they improved to 2-1 in B1G play and 5-1 overall, but what did Saturday’s midseason test really show us?

Since that opening win against Florida, Michigan has not looked like a force to be reckoned with. Yes, the defense is dominant, but it just let a redshirt freshman quarterback overcome a 10-point deficit to force overtime. It can’t be expected to do all the heavy lifting.

And through seven weeks, you can’t expect Michigan to stay in the race to win college football’s best division.

Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s not take anything away from the job that Indiana did on Saturday. The Hoosiers once again showed that they were capable of hanging tough with Michigan. Tom Allen’s defense had its way with John O’Korn and the passing game for the entire afternoon.

But let’s think about that again. It took every bit of Karan Higdon’s career-high 200 rushing yards just for Michigan to escape Indiana with a win.

That’s what happens when you throw for 58 yards in a game.

More troubling, perhaps, was that O’Korn didn’t realize that 2.9 yards per attempt probably isn’t good, no matter how many yards your tailback runs for:

Michigan is as one-dimensional of an offense as there is in the B1G right now. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t have struggled to distance itself from the likes of Air Force and Cincinnati.

Through six games, the Wolverines have just four passing touchdowns. You know has more than that? Rutgers. Minnesota. Maryland, which probably just had another quarterback go down.

Optimists like O’Korn will point to the improved running game on Saturday afternoon. Did Higdon look like a featured back? Absolutely. For one afternoon, he showed that he should get 20 carries next week.

But here’s the problem.

Michigan travels to Penn State next week. What awaits the Wolverines? The No. 1 scoring defense in America coming off a bye will get a Saturday night showdown. That’s an awfully ominous sign for a one-dimensional offense.

I haven’t even talked about defending Saquon Barkley yet. A fresh Saquon Barkley, might I add. That’s all sorts of ominous.

The reality is, Michigan is virtually eliminated from the division race if it doesn’t beat Penn State next week. You don’t win the nation’s best division with two conference losses, especially when one of them is against the favorite.

But even if Michigan just had Rutgers on the schedule next week, what would make anyone think it was capable of playing at an elite level?

Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Maurice Hurst and that Michigan defense can only hold up for so long. We saw in the fourth quarter what happens to a defense when its offense can’t sustain drives. And on the rare occasion Michigan does sustain drives, it can’t punch it in. That 35-percent red-zone touchdown percentage is still lacking.

That, coupled with Michigan’s inability to get home run plays in the passing game, is a rough combination.

If I’m Jim Harbaugh, I’m feeling fortunate to be 5-1. I’m pleased that my team found a way to avoid a complete tailspin and pick up a nail-biter victory. I’m thrilled that I have thrilled that I have a stud kicker in Quinn Nordin. I’m eternally grateful that Don Brown is on the my sideline, too.

But if I’m Harbaugh, I’m worried about the lack of progress my team has shown at the midway point of the season. I’m aware that youth is no longer an excuse after six games. I’m not convinced the team I saw in the first half of 2017 can stay with the real contenders it’ll see in the second half of 2017.

That Michigan team isn’t winning at Penn State, nor is it earning a victory at Wisconsin and believe it or not, it isn’t knocking off Ohio State in the Big House, either.

Harbaugh is short on time to turn his squad into a contender in 2017. There’s a difference between surviving and contending. On Saturday, Harbaugh’s squad did the former.

If it wants to do the latter, it has a long way to go in the final six weeks.