140 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW
2017
While the defense dominated once again
under second-year coordinator Don Brown
(No. 3 nationally, 271.0 yards per game),
the offense was equally as abysmal (105th,
348.9).
A rash of injuries — most notably to red-
shirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight and
freshman wide receiver Tarik Black — cer-
tainly hindered the group, but even when
healthy the unit never seemed to click.
This was painfully obvious early in the
campaign, when U-M only mustered 20 of-
fensive points against Cincinnati Sept. 9 (the
Wolverines benefitted from a pair of pick-
sixes in the 36-14 triumph) and 22 versus
Air Force the following week (a punt return
touchdown supplied additional points in the
THE YEAR
IN REVIEW
Michigan Takes A Step Back In
Year Three Of The Jim Harbaugh Era
BY AUSTIN FOX
A
fter losing 17 starters from its
2016 squad that went 10-3 and
was on the verge of the College
Football Playoff, the 2017 Wolverines
were expected to take a slight step back.
However, no one anticipated them to
regress as much as they did. The '17 group
wound up finishing 8-5 and was never able
to establish any momentum or rhythm
all season long.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh posted back-to-
back 10-win seasons during his first two
years in Ann Arbor, but the Wolverines
slipped to an 8-5 mark in 2017 due in large
part to major struggles on the offensive
side of the ball.
PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN