1 Thing I Loved, 3 Things I Hated: Michigan Football At Rutgers

The Michigan Wolverines sure do like to keep fans on the edge of their seat, don’t they?

After a barnburner against Indiana last week, they kept things interesting once again as they took on Rutgers for a Halloween matinee. The Scarlet Knights were only down by one point at halftime and kept things real close in the second half. However, after Rutgers was able to tie the game in the fourth quarter, Michigan was able to put one more score on the board and win the game by a final score of 28-21.

As has been the case in every game this year, this wasn’t the prettiest one to watch. Here is one thing I loved and three things I hated from today’s game.

1 thing I loved: Success in the pass game

Even though quarterback Tommy Carr was battling a case of the flu heading into this game, he played really well for the most part. Carr was 13-of-16 for 184 yards and one touchdown at the halftime break, with his longest play going for 44 yards to fellow freshman Salesi Moa.

Carr’s pass to JJ Buchanan for a touchdown to finish that drive was also a thing of beauty from both the quarterback and the wide receiver.

Carr ended the game 21-of-26 for 257 yards and that one touchdown. When the Wolverines needed a big play on offense on Saturday, Carr was the one delivering for his team.

1 thing I hated: Defensive drives extended due to penalties

Whittingham has talked quite a bit this season about limiting penalties on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, the defense was flagged for a pair of 15-yard penalties on the first two drives of the game for Rutgers to keep its offense on the field.

First, on the very first play from scrimmage of the game, cornerback Smith Snowden was called for roughing the passer after going low on Rutgers quarterback AJ Surace. It was a bit questionable, but the 15 yards gave Rutgers an automatic first down at its own 40 yard line just a few seconds into the game.

Then, on Rutgers’ second offensive drive, cornerback Jyaire Hill was flagged for pass intereference on star wide receiver KJ Duff. Following that play, Rutgers only had 12 total yards at the time, while the Michigan defense had been penalized for 30 yards. The Scarlet Knights were able to get a field goal on this drive, and it very likely would not have happened had it not been for the penalty.

Fast forward to the second quarter, and the Wolverines were up 14-10 with about five minutes left. Michigan’s offense was hoping to get the ball back once more with plenty of time left in the half, but unfortunately, Snowden was called for a holding penalty on 3rd-and-4. That drive ended in yet another field goal to cut Michigan’s lead to just one point, 14-13.

After Michigan went up 28-21 late in the fourth quarter, Zeke Berry was called for pass interference on the very first play of the ensuing Rutgers drive, giving the Scarlet Knights much better field position in an effort to tie the game. It didn’t result in points being put on the board, but that would have been a back-breaker had Rutgers managed to go down the field and score a touchdown.

Jay Hill has done wonders with this defense this season, but this was a really frustrating game for that side of the ball, as they kept the Scarlet Knights’ offense on the field for much longer than it should have been. The defense also gave up more than 20 points for the first time all season. The offense has gotten a lot of flack (reasonably so) this year — and the offense had its own penalty problems right before halftime — but the defensive penalties continue to stack up and are a big problem.

Another thing I hated: The run game struggled…again

Michigan’s run game has been pretty bad all season long — No. 101 in the FBS heading into this one, to be exact. But going into a game against the No. 129 overall rush defense in the FBS, most fans and pundits alike expected the Wolverines to get things going in the ground game against the Scarlet Knights.

Instead, Jordan Marshall, Savion Hiter and Bryson Kuzdzal continued to struggle producing chunk plays on the ground. The longest run of the game went for just 15 yards (Carr’s touchdown run) and the team averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Hiter led the group with 20 carries for 76 yards, while Kuzdzal took six carries 37 yards, and Marshall had five carries for zero yards.

Those are embarrassing numbers when you’re going up against one of the worst run defenses in all of college football. I can’t imagine the run game will be much better against any of the four remaining opponents on the schedule this year.

A final thing I hated: Trey Butkowski is broken

After missing a pair of field goals last week against the Hoosiers, sophomore kicker Trey Butkowski missed two more field goals in this game — one from 48 yards out and other from 35 yards out. He has now missed four of his last six field goal tries.

The really unfortunate part about all this is Butkowski had not missed a single kick up until last week’s game. Now, the Wolverines all of a sudden have a kicking problem. That’s to go along with the punt return issues that have plagued the team this season — the Wolverines ranked No. 102 in the country (6.4 yards per punt return) heading into this game.

For as nice as it was to get a legitimate special teams coordinator on the coaching staff in Kerry Coombs late last year, it sure hasn’t resulted in much success in 2026. Hopefully Butkowski turns things around soon because his services will be needed against teams like Ohio State, UCLA and even Michigan State.

There are a few other things I hated from this game, but I’m curious to hear what you guys have to say. What did you love and hate from the Rutgers game? Let me know down in the comments below!