There were plenty of highs and lows to Michigan's 2018 offense, but fans will unfortunately remember best how the unit fizzled during its Peach Bowl showing against Florida last Saturday.
We've decided to take a look back at both the good and bad of the 2018 campaign, and the questions the offense needs to answer heading into 2019.
The Positives: Michigan's Offense as a Whole Improved Greatly From 2017 to 2018
Michigan's offense was absolutely pitiful in 2017, and had nowhere to go but up. It finished 105th in total offense that year (348.9 yards per game) and 91st in scoring (25.2).
The Wolverines, however, jumped to No. 50 in the former (419.5 yards per game) in 2018, and No. 21 in the latter (35.2).
The increase in production was due to upgrades at two of the offense's most important spots — junior quarterback Shea Patterson transferred in and became the starter after Wilton Speight, John O'Korn and Brandon Peters all struggled mightily in 2017, while Ed Warinner was brought in to shore up an offensive line that Tim Drevno and Greg Frey failed to fix the previous year.
Warinner's offensive line that started four veterans (sophomore center Cesar Ruiz was the only youngster) and improved tremendously as the year went on, while Patterson not only played efficient (64.6 completion percentage) and primarily mistake-free football (22-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio) from the quarterback spot, but also became of the team's best leaders.
In addition, senior running back Karan Higdon emerged as a workhorse at his position and became a focal point in the offense, rushing for 1,178 yards (third most in the Big Ten) and 10 touchdowns (tied for fourth most).
Higdon's workhorse mentality and Patterson's efficiency and ability to take care of the football resulted in Michigan holding onto the ball for long periods at a time (34:18 per game, fifth best nationally) while wearing teams out on the ground, which is the exact style of play head coach Jim Harbaugh preferred.
This method worked to a tee during U-M's 10-game winning streak from Sept. 8-Nov. 17, when the Maize and Blue averaged 235.3 rushing yards per game and an average margin of victory of 26.1 points per contest.
