The Michigan offense has been the story of the 2026 season so far for all the wrong reasons. The run game in particular has been underwhelming, with the Wolverines currently averaging a mere 135.0 rushing yards per game, including a season-low 79 yards against Minnesota.
Those numbers are certainly below Michigan's standard, even the last two seasons when the run game was still executing despite the offense as a whole not being all that productive. As such, it's not a surprise getting the run game where it needs to be has been and continues to be a focus.
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"We put a lot of emphasis on the run game, and obviously, being at Michigan, that's a big thing for us," center Jake Guarnera told the media on Tuesday. "I think we'll eventually put it together and show the team that we should be playing as."
Guarnera's belief that the offensive line hasn't been executing as it should would likely align with what the fan base is thinking as well. It's particularly worrisome for a line that brought back all of its starters from last season and had its issues in pass protection, as opposed to the run game like we've seen this year. Adding an experienced and well-respected offensive line coach in Jim Harding fueled plenty of optimism that Michigan's line could go from good to great, but it just hasn't been the case through five games.
To make things a bit more complicated, the line has been using different combinations. Most recently, this has been due to Andrew Sprague's injury that's kept him sidelined the last three weeks, as well as an injury to Blake Frazier that had him missing part of the game against Iowa. Sophomore Andrew Babalola is also set to return from his own injury, which adds another player with high potential to the group, but also adds another piece to a complicated puzzle.
Guarnera believes that although the results haven't been promising thus far, the line doesn't have that far to go to get things turned around. And playing with better chemistry can help things look better on the field.
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"Every time I watch the film, we're one block away from hitting a big run, so we just need to start executing as a team and not just as individuals," Guarnera said.
Over the bye week, the offensive line had the chance to get some more meaningful reps together, and perhaps that extra time was good enough to iron out the kinks and make sure that "one block" is getting made when it should be. Chemistry on the field is something that will obviously be developed with extra reps in practice, but Guarnera also added that spending more time with his fellow linemen off the field has been important as well, especially for building trust with them.
"We do O-line dinners every Thursday, and I think that's something we need to keep doing and keep hanging out off the field because that's something we did the year before in 2024," Guarnera said. "Keep bonding together as a group, not just on the field but off the field."
Michigan will face Penn State this week, which is perhaps a bit stiffer of an opponent than its 3-3 record would let on. If there's something to criticize with the Nittany Lions defensively, it would be their run defense, as they're allowing 165.8 yards rushing per game this year (No. 82 in the nation). As we saw against Minnesota, it hasn't exactly taken an elite defense to slow Michigan down, but if there was ever a chance to get right on the ground, it would be against a below-average run defense after having an extra week to prepare.
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Michigan's emphasis on the run game should be something it leans into on Saturday, and hopefully its offensive line's chemistry has improved just enough the last two weeks to have the breakthrough it's looking for.
