Welcome to Michigan, where college football offense has gone to die - USA Today
The state of Michigan has had the worst collection of offensive play in college football this season. That isn't expected to change when Michigan and Michigan State face off on Saturday, Nov. 7.
When the Wolverines host the Spartans in Week 10, it’ll be a battle between the two of the three worst offenses among Power Four teams this season. While Michigan’s elite defense has carried it through some ugly games in 2026, Michigan State hasn’t been quite as lucky in that regard.
Michigan hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season outside of its two matchups against UTEP — one of the worst teams in college football — and Rutgers, one of the worst teams in Power Four.
Michigan State, meanwhile, has dropped six consecutive games after starting the season 2-0, including losses in which it scored 3, 10 (twice) and 13 points. It isn’t just Michigan and Michigan State, either. All five FBS teams in Michigan rank 120th or worse this season in total offense out of 138 teams in college football.
Somehow, three of the best quarterbacks in college football — Oregon's Dante Moore, Notre Dame's CJ Carr and Mississippi's Trinidad Chambliss all hail from Michigan — but play at schools outside the state.
Here’s a look at historically bad offense in the state of Michigan this season, headlined by Michigan-Michigan State on Nov. 7:
College football offenses in Michigan this season fall somewhere on the spectrum of unwatchable to downright embarrassing.
It’s not just at the state’s Power Four teams with Michigan and Michigan State, either: Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan are far from powerhouse programs, but the other FBS schools in the state have also been among the worst in the country.
Only Kent State, Bowling Green, UTEP and Old Dominion rank lower than Central Michigan and Michigan State in total offense among FBS teams this season. Those teams have a combined record of 8-27 this season.
Michigan, Michigan State, Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan don’t rank quite as bad in scoring offense, but it’s still far from average and even further from good.
Advanced metrics aren't a fan of these teams' offenses, either (despite Michigan and Michigan State playing some of the best defenses in college football this season). SP+, a "tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency" created by Bill Connelly in 2008, agrees these offenses are terrible, as of the most-recent adjustment to the model on Nov. 1.
Michigan and Michigan State both rank in the bottom five of Power Four teams nationally in total offense. Four of such teams are from the Big Ten, which either explains the level of defense being played in the conference, or the lack of offense.
Michigan State did what it was supposed to earlier this season against Eastern Michigan, scoring a season high in points against one of the worst teams in college football. It still wasn’t an encouraging performance for the Spartans by any means, especially against a completely unmatched opponent.
The five FBS teams from Michigan have proved this season that if any collection of those teams play each other, it’s going to result in some ugly offense. That’ll likely be the case again for Michigan-Michigan State and Eastern Michigan-Central Michigan in Week 10.
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