The Michigan Wolverines suffered the second disappointing loss in three weeks in Saturday's 42-13 defeat to Penn State, causing many to really reflect on this Michigan program and where they stand in the national picture. Here are the three biggest things we learned from the loss:
1) Michigan isn't a championship-level team
Going into the season, many were wondering if this would be somewhat of a rebuilding year for Michigan given the youth of their roster. That narrative quickly changed following Michigan's season-opening win over Florida, but given their struggles this year, that win maybe provided a false narrative for the Wolverines. Following these losses to Michigan State and Penn State, those preseason predictions of a rebuilding year look more and more accurate.
And that's fine! Michigan has the talent to be back in the playoff picture next year. But this season, it's clear this team just doesn't have it, particularly offensively.
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2) John O'Korn needs to be benched
Speaking of the offense, it hasn't improved (as some had hoped) since O'Korn took over for the injured Wilton Speight. In fact, that unit has taken a step back to where it's one of the worst in the entire country, and O'Korn is a major part of the problem. He hasn't thrown a touchdown pass in any of his three starts and has only completed over 50 percent of his passes once.
Now that Michigan is out of the Big Ten race, it doesn't make sense to continue to play someone who's struggling like O'Korn simply because of experience. It's not working. Put Brandon Peters in there and hopefully he can give this offense a spark. If not, he's a potential long-term starter getting valuable game reps. There's no downside to starting Peters - and no upside to keeping O'Korn in the starting role.
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3) Youth on defense was exposed
The Wolverines had one of the country's elite defenses going into that Penn State, but the Nittany Lions made them look like a JV unit. Michigan allowed over 500 yards of total offense, including 224 on the ground - they previously led the nation in rush defense - and 25 first downs. Now, the Wolverines still have the talent to be one of the elite units on that side of the ball, but Penn State took advantage of their youth and inexperience by lining up in new and different formations.
Remember, PSU head coach James Franklin has experience going up against defensive coordinator Don Brown from their time together at Maryland, so he knew better than most how to attack Michigan schematically. It's on the Wolverines to learn from their mistakes and improve before closing the season against Wisconsin and Ohio State.
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