Michigan's Offensive Vision vs. Minnesota is Simple — Could Lead Wolverines to Victory

It's so simple that it could work.

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Michigan is 3-1 on the season and after playing with its food one too many times, the Wolverines were finally bitten. That happened this past weekend against Iowa. Michigan was the better team and doubled the Hawkeyes in total yards and dominated in every statistic — aside from the only one that matters.

Iowa drove 91 yards for a score and beat Michigan by one. Now, entering Week 5 at Minnesota, running back Jordan Marshall says the offensive vision is playing clean football.

"My vision of what we should look like on Saturday is clean football," Marshall said. "I don't think we've played a clean game with penalties, with shooting ourselves in the foot. What would we look like if we had maybe one penalty, and we're having explosive plays, and we're building off each other?

"I'm not saying there's not going to be bad plays. In every football game, there's going to be, but how do we limit those bad plays, and I think we're doing better as that. We're coming together as an offense, but it's also trusting each other, and I think  the trust is growing every single week — not only player to player, but coach to coach."

Michigan went 2-for-4 in the red zone, turning the ball over twice. Bryce Underwood and Andrew Marsh had a miscommunication that resulted in an interception and Jason Beck called for Underwood to go up and over the pile on fourth and one, which got stuffed.

The Wolverines also had eight penalties for 75 yards, most coming at terrible times.

Clean football can result in a win

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Michigan hasn't been close to having a clean game of football this season. Despite that, the Wolverines are one play away from being 4-0 and knocking on the door as being a top-10 team in the country. But that's not how things have played out and Michigan needs to clean up mistakes.

The Wolverines are -3 in turnover margin this season. Michigan is ranked No. 114 in the nation in penalty yards per game. The Wolverines average 72.3 yards in penalties and they get called for an average of eight penalties per game.

Even worse, Michigan is No. 118 in red zone efficiency. The Wolverines have scored points 75% of the time when they are in the red zone.

Playing clean football could really change the trajectory of this season.

Goals are still in front of Michigan

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Whether you want to think this way or not, Michigan certainly is. The Wolverines' goals are still in front of them, despite suffering a loss in the fourth week of the season. Making the Big Ten Championship Game is still in reach and the Wolverines control their own fate.

It's possible Michigan needed a wake-up call to stop the sloppy play, and now it's time to show some mettle moving forward.

"Obviously, our goal is to win the Big Ten, but we still have a lot of Big Ten games left," said Marshall. "We play a lot of good football teams along that route, so again, it's just getting better every single week and taking one week at a time, and it's going to be big for us getting this road win. 

A lot of us haven't played Minnesota, so just going in there, getting our first Big Ten win on the road is important for us, and we have to do that as a team, and I think away games help you come together. It helps you get closer as a team, and I'm excited for the challenge we have ahead."

Fans can see Michigan take on Minnesota this Saturday at Noon ET on FOX.

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