Nick Saban might have just handed the Michigan Wolverines the ultimate fuel to come out winning against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Saturday’s game is where the winner still has a shot at putting their name on the playoff board early, and as 2- and 3-loss teams, Wolverines and Nittany Lions both will be making a run for it.

However, at 3-2, Saban feels Michigan has been the “most disappointing” team this season.

Nick Saban Calls Michigan Most Disappointing Team

“The disappointment for me is Michigan,” Saban said, per On3‘s Daniel Hager. “They haven’t found a way to utilize the personnel they have on offense, including Bryce Underwood. If they could figure that out, they have the best defense in the Big Ten. If they could just play offense and score a few more points, they’ll have a chance to turn it around. But they’ve been a disappointment so far.”

The hype surrounding Michigan was high entering the season, mainly because head coach Kyle Whittingham has Bryce Underwood to utilize this season. So far, the kind of performance is yet to come from the Wolverines.

After opening the season at No. 16 in the AP poll, the Wolverines didn’t take long to fall out of the top 10 after a disputed last-second Hail Mary to beat Western Michigan 13-12.

A 17-10 win over then-No. 11 Oklahoma brought the Wolverines back, but they’ve since lost 20-19 at home to Iowa on the final play and 20-14 at Minnesota, their first road loss to the Gophers since 1977.

That one was quite personal for Whittingham.

“This is the biggest challenge I’ve had,” Whittingham said, per On3.

Michigan’s Offense Biggest Problem

And it’s not like anyone can argue with Saban’s thoughts. The numbers have been ugly for the Wolverines.

Michigan is averaging 23 points per game, which puts them at 102nd in the country in rankings, while generating a meager 180 passing yards per week. And that’s with a five-star quarterback like Bryce Underewood. All while their defense is giving up less than 16 points a game (top-20 in the nation).

Their defense has what kept them alive this season, but they can only carry it alone for so long. Unless Whittingham finds a way to get Underwood moving, Michigan might not last too long in the season.

They take on Penn State today, and what comes out of it basically sets the tone for the middle stretch of the season, and whether they stay alive long enough to make some noise as a playoff contender down the road.