Undefeated or not, there’s no excuse for Michigan’s paltry red zone numbers

When Wilton Speight threw a quick pass to Grant Perry in the middle of the third quarter, he did something he hadn’t done all year.

He completed a pass in the red zone.

Unfortunately for Michigan, it went for -1 yards. That meant that everybody who crowded into the Big House only to watch the Wolverines struggle mightily in the red zone had something on Speight. They all had more red zone passing yards than Speight or anybody on the Michigan offense.

That’s how bad it was for the Wolverines on Saturday.

Sure, they won 29-13 (it was closer than that), but the red-zone issues were obviously atrocious. It was the same story as the previous two games. Michigan’s special teams and defense turned on the gas, and the offense went in neutral when it counted.

On Saturday, Michigan totaled -1 red zone yards. That was what 12 (!) plays deep in Air Force territory yielded.

At this point, a number like that can’t be treated as a fluke. Considering how big of a problem that’s already been for Michigan, it won’t be brushed off.

Michigan’s red-zone woes were not just the product of Speight, though he obviously he had a lot to do with that. His decision-making hasn’t been great, which has been well-documented.

The troubling thing is that the game is supposed to be slowing down for Speight in those critical moments. On Saturday, it looked like he was overwhelmed too easily. And while he hasn’t gotten a ton of help from his young wideouts, there have been too many instances in which he didn’t even give his receivers a chance.

Let me rephrase that. In 2017*, Speight looked like he was overwhelmed too easily. How else can you explain 1-for-13 for -1 yards?

The play-calling has something to do with that, too. Tim Drevno and Jim Harbaugh both deserve their fair share of blame. They know adjustments need to be made.

Numbers these bad can’t continue:

You could also throw a sack for -2 yards in there, too. That would make Michigan’s red zone totals 33 plays for 35 yards, only one of which resulted in a touchdown.

In other words, Quinn Nordin is Michigan’s savior. Half serious.

Think about where the Wolverines would be if they were having kicking issues, too. Surely they would’ve been staring at a deficit for the entire afternoon. Think about where the Wolverines would be if their young defense was struggling to get stops (they haven’t been perfect, either).

It wouldn’t be pretty. They kept saying on the broadcast that the Wolverines would already be a solid team if they had just their defense and special teams taking the field. The red-zone offense has undoubtedly held Michigan back from getting comfortable wins in consecutive home games vs. non-Power 5 foes.

Michigan won the total yards battle 359-232 on Saturday. It had a 414-200 total yards advantage vs. Cincinnati and a 433-192 advantage vs. Florida.

“Our team is moving the ball. That’s a fact,” Harbaugh said after Saturday’s win. “I think the red zone touchdowns will come.”

He’s right. That’s the glass half-full approach to this. For the vast majority of all three of its games, Michigan has clearly been the superior team.

Compare that to Ohio State, which looked like the better football team for roughly two of its first eight quarters of the season.

Michigan doesn’t have whole-sale issues right now. In fact, if you told Wolverines before the season that they would be 3-0 having won each game by at least 16 points, they’d take it. Shoot, any team in America would take that.

But the adjustment is crucial and obvious. Michigan will not win close games against good B1G teams if it doesn’t improve those red-zone issues. Michigan won’t always be able to rely on defensive or special teams touchdowns. The same thing was said last week.

Last year’s College Football Playoff teams scored touchdowns on at least 62 percent of their red zone possessions. After three games, Michigan is at a mere 10 percent.

If that doesn’t change in a hurry, the Wolverines will again find themselves on the outside looking in.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.