Ohio State football: 5 reasons the Buckeyes will beat Michigan

3. The Wolverines don’t have any play makers on offense.

Much like their defense, the Wolverines’ offense lost many of its core players to the NFL Draft or eligibility after last season. Many of these players were seniors and were leaders on the team. Even though the Wolverines have never been much on offense, they had enough to keep the ball moving in order to keep opposing offenses off the field.

Key players that were lost include senior tight end Jake Butt, senior receivers Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson, and senior running back De’Veon Smith. These losses have added up as the Wolverines’ offense is now in the bottom half of the Big Ten and almost 50 spots lower in the nation.

It was still expected that the Wolverines would maintain some moderate stability as they did return their starting quarterback. Redshirt junior Wilton Speight hasn’t been a great quarterback but he’s been serviceable for the Wolverines since his first start last season.

Unfortunately for the Wolverines, Speight was injured in the team’s fourth game this season with what is likely a season ending back injury. He was one of the team’s only building blocks with nobody else to carry the weight left by the departed seniors.

With that in mind, this situation is turning out to be rather similar to the match up last season. Speight had been injured prior to the match up with the Bucks and it was thought that he would not be available for the Wolverines once game day arrived.

It was quickly realized that this assumption was false as it became clear that Harbaugh misdirected everyone regarding his available when Speight trotted out as the starter. This strategy backfired as Speight went on to hurt his team considerably by committing three devastating turnovers. The first was an early pick-six, second was a fumble on the Bucks’ goal line, and the third was an interception deep in his own territory leading to a touchdown for the Bucks.

The Wolverines may not have had a better option but Speight wasn’t great by any means. Speight will most likely be unavailable on Saturday. Backup quarterbacks John O’Korn and Brandon Peters have gotten significant playing time. Both have been underwhelming in Speight’s absence which has hurt the Wolverines quite a bit.

What’s worse is that the quarterback situation for this weekend is completely up in the air leading up to game day. TTUN’s preferred starter Peters is in concussion protocol and O’Korn has struggled badly in his time as starter so far. It would be difficult to imagine either of the two providing much production given the circumstances.

With all of the injuries and departures of key players, the Wolverines have had a few others step up. Freshman receiver Tarik Black was set to become a solid contributor but he sustained a season ending injury early on. Freshman tight end Nick Eubanks has missed some time as well. Running backs Karan Higdon and Chris Evans have led the way for the Wolverines combining for 17 total touchdowns.

The Wolverines have been stretched thin this season with limited depth due to injuries and lack of experience. Their offense is not intimidating anyone and certainly not the Bucks this season. The Bucks should have no problem terrorizing a collapsing Wolverines offense. Expect the Bucks to dismantle the Wolverines’ incapable offense on Saturday.