Michigan's Passing Game Has Been Middle-Of-The-Pack Since 2015
The Wolverines’ air attack throughout the last five years has been average among Big Ten teams when combining their performance in passing yards and passing touchdowns from 2015-19.
Michigan ranks seventh out of the 14 Big Ten teams in passing yards per season since 2015, finishing below Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Penn State, and Michigan State in that category. The Wolverines have thrown for 14,137 yards since Jim Harbaugh arrived, which is an average of 2,827 yards a season.
The Big Ten leader in passing yards since 2015 is the Buckeyes, who throw for an average of 713 more yards than the Wolverines do per season, at 3,540 yards. Ohio State is also one of five programs in the conference that has averaged better than 3,000 yards passing per year.
The Maize and Blue are tied for sixth with Nebraska among Big Ten teams in touchdown passes over the last five seasons, below Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Indiana and Iowa in that category. U-M has thrown for 99 touchdown passes, which is an average of 19.8 passing TDs per season.
For comparison, Ohio State averages 36.6 touchdown passes per season and has thrown for 84 more touchdowns than the Wolverines have since 2015. Only two other programs, though, Penn State and Purdue have averaged 25 touchdown passes or more per campaign since 2015.
In Josh Gattis’ first year as the Wolverines’ offensive coordinator in 2019, Michigan threw for 3,261 yards and had 25 touchdown passes, both representing five-year highs under Harbaugh.
The 25 touchdown passes were the most by a Michigan offense since 2007 (also 25) and the 3,261 yards passing were the most by a U-M offense since 2003 (a program record 3,520).
In the last five years, the Wolverines have thrown for over 3,000 yards twice, in 2015 and in 2019. Indiana and Purdue are the only two Big Ten teams to throw for over 3,000 yards in at least four of the last five seasons, while Northwestern and the Buckeyes join the Hoosiers and Boilermakers in doing so three times.
Michigan has thrown at least 20 touchdown passes in four of the last five seasons, failing to do so only in 2017 when the Wolverines had nine touchdown passes during a tumultuous year under center in which three QBs started for the Maize and Blue.
U-M's average of 2,827 yards passing per season since 2015 does represent the second-best five-year average under any head coach in Michigan history, trailing only Lloyd Carr's stretch from 1999-2003 when the Wolverines threw for 3,018 yards per season (and in three fewer total games than 2015-19).
When combining the five-year averages for passing yards and passing touchdowns, Michigan finishes with a total “score” of 13 among conference programs because they finished seventh in passing yards and sixth in passing touchdowns. Ohio State comes out with the best “score” in the Big Ten as OSU finished first in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.
The Wolverines “score” of 13 ties for sixth with Iowa, behind: Ohio State (2), Purdue (5), Penn State (6), Indiana (6) and Nebraska (11) and just better than Michigan State (14).
| Rank/Team | Total Passing Yards | Avg. Pass Yards (Rank) | Total Passing TDs | Avg. Passing TDs (Rank) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ohio State | 17,699 | 3539.8 (1) | 183 | 36.6 (1) |
Purdue | 17,373 | 3,474.6 (3) | 127 | 25.4 (2) |
Penn State | 15,922 | 3,184.4 (4) | 127 | 25.4 (2) |
Indiana | 17,592 | 3,518.4 (2) | 117 | 23.4 (4) |
Nebraska | 15,069 | 3,013.8 (5) | 99 | 19.8 (6) |
Michigan | 14,137 | 2,827.4 (7) | 99 | 19.8 (6) |
Iowa | 13,248 | 2,649.6 (8) | 104 | 20.8 (5) |
Michigan State | 14,751 | 2,950.2 (6) | 94 | 18.8 (8) |
Wisconsin | 13,016 | 2603.2 (9) | 90 | 18.0 (9) |
Minnesota | 12,570 | 2,514.0 (11) | 84 | 16.8 (10) |
Northwestern | 12,783 | 2,556.6 (10) | 70 | 14.0 (12) |
Maryland | 10,132 | 2,026.4 (13) | 73 | 14.6 (11) |
Illinois | 11,511 | 2,302.2 (12) | 66 | 13.2 (13) |
Rutgers | 8,789 | 1,757.8 (14) | 49 | 9.8 (14) |
