It appeared that the Michigan offense figured something out last Saturday in the second half against Penn State. Freshman Tommy Carr came into the game and led the Wolverines' offense to three touchdowns in the final 30 minutes.

But it was just a mirage. The same old Michigan offense came to play on Saturday against Indiana. Now, give the Hoosiers their props. They are a good team and a well-coached defense under Bryant Haines. Indiana has a lot of skilled players and Carr had some happy feet when the pressure mounted, along with freshman mistakes.

Carr turned the ball over twice against Indiana. The Wolverines had several chances to beat Indiana, but fell in overtime, 13-6.

And there is clearly a larger issue than quarterback play at Michigan. It doesn't matter who plays the position. It can be Bryce Underwood, Carr, or Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi. Stubborn woes aren't going anywhere, and there is one common denominator. Jason Beck excelled at both New Mexico and Utah, but it hasn't translated at Michigan.

It's not a QB problem

Bryce Underwood will be the first person to tell you that he didn't play well through the first six games of the season. He kept turning the ball over and reverted back to some old habits. But Underwood wasn't the only issue.

Former Michigan wide receiver Tarik Black took to social media on Saturday to share his disgust with the play calling, and it comes down to a coaching issue.

Whoever calling these plays garbage it ain’t the qbs

— Tarik Black (@LetmeRockk_) October 24, 2026

Michigan does not have a QB problem, anything but.

Bryce Underwood & Tommy Carr are both talented. The leadership/maturity Underwood's shown after sitting down is some of the best I've seen from a player his age.

They need to be coached better. Whole offense does.

— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) October 24, 2026

Coaching has failed this team

Michigan's defense was dominant yet again on Saturday. The Wolverines held Indiana to just 212 yards and Josh Hoover threw for 81 yards. He also tossed his first interception of the season. Michigan actually outgained the Hoosiers, but that doesn't mean Michigan's offense was impressive.

The Wolverines had just 57 yards on the ground and the running game was supposed to be the Wolverines' bread and butter. But the personnel doesn't match the scheme that is being ran, and it's showing poor results.

Following the results, Kyle Whittingham took the brunt of the blame, saying it all starts and ends with him. Whittingham is attached to Beck, but at some point, those tough decisions will have to be made with the coaching staff, too.

Michigan offensive coordinator Jason Beck must have head coach Kyle Whittingham in his corner, because I can't think of anyone else.

— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) October 24, 2026

This starts and ends with Kyle Whittingham & Jason Beck. Period. It’s 100% on those two. They have failed Michigan. It’s not good enough.

— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) October 24, 2026

Play calling leading to no success

There were several head-scratching calls against Indiana. But the worst one came when the Wolverines had the ball third-and-goal on the Hoosiers' one-yard line. In theory, Michigan had two chances to score a touchdown. Instead of trying a quarterback sneak to score, Beck opted to run a naked bootleg, which resulted in a 13-yard sack.

Kicker Trey Butkowski missed two field goals on Saturday, and one of them came after the botched third-and-one call.

Worst playcall in Michigan history?

Looking to throw to an offensive lineman on 3rd and goal at the 1.

There’s nothing else left to be said about Jason Beck. He should be fired TONIGHT. pic.twitter.com/6MpFTzzDOZ

— Marty McRide (@MartyMcRide) October 24, 2026

The Wolverines' offense is starting to stoop toward the 2008 season under Rich Rodriguez. The Wolverines can't score and Michigan has now had zero points scored in the first half in back-to-back games. For reference, from 2011-2025, that happened just one time.

Michigan games with 0 points in first half at home in 15 seasons from 2011-25: 1

Michigan games with 0 points in first half at home in last 2 weeks under Kyle Whittingham/Jason Beck: 2

— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) October 24, 2026

Another thing that Beck does that makes Michigan fans want to rip their hair out is the Rhino package. According to Beck, it's Michigan's most efficient and effective formation. But it creates fewer route concepts for the defense to defend, and FOX analyst Brady Quinn also can't understand why Michigan runs it so often.

Never been a fan of bringing on extra OL unless that’s your identity. If you’re a run first team. That’s the issue with UM offense. It has zero identity and that starts with the play caller. You have to design an offense around the strengths of the players you have and adapt your…

— Brady Quinn (@Brady_Quinn) October 24, 2026

The future?

Michigan's next game will come against lowly Rutgers, but with how the Wolverines' offense has been playing, Michigan could be in store for a dogfight.

When Michigan takes the field next week at Rutgers, it will have been more than a month since the offense scored a touchdown on a possession that was not started by a defensive turnover (4th quarter, Iowa, Sept. 26).

— Tony Garcia | Detroit Free Press (@RealTonyGarcia) October 24, 2026

And what's crazy to think about is how much more effective and innovative both Kirk Campbell and Chip Lindsey's offenses were compared to what we are seeing in 2026 under Beck. If Kyle Whittingham had kept Lindsey, would things look different?

It's hard to say, but Beck clearly isn't getting the job done, and if things don't change in a hurry that clock will continue to tick quicker and quicker.

i think the most disappointing part about this Michigan season is if Michigan just keeps Chip Lindsey, they're 7-0 right now and a virtual lock for the CFP, even with the QB limitations

— Alex Drain (@Alex_Drain) October 24, 2026

If Jason Beck is no longer the OC/Play caller, who takes over?

— Chris Wormley (@Chris_Wormley43) October 24, 2026