Michigan head coach Brady Hoke hoped a quarterback change to Shane Morris would spark his offense Saturday at home against Minnesota. Unfortunately for Hoke, the offense was in its usual bad form as the Golden Gophers cruised to a 30-14 win.
The one-sided loss came to a team Michigan had beaten in 22 of their past 23 meetings.
The loss dropped Michigan to 2-3 -- the first time in the program's 135-year history that Michigan has lost three games in September -- and it likely sealed Hoke's fate. The heat was on him already, and losing in the manner in which the Wolverines did Saturday -- it was 30-7 before the Wolverines scored a TD with former starter Devin Gardner at the controls in the fourth quarter to make it a bit less embarrassing -- is going to increase the temperature.
Michigan managed just 171 yards of total offense -- 83 on the ground and 88 through the air. Michigan averaged just 3.2 yards per play.
Hoke is in his fourth season at Michigan and is 28-16. But 11 of those wins came in 2011, his first season in Ann Arbor after taking over for Rich Rodriguez, and in their past 11 games against Power Five conference foes (including Notre Dame), the Wolverines are 2-9, with wins over Indiana and Northwestern.
In Michigan's three losses this season, the Wolverines have been outscored 87-24. The two wins have come over Appalachian State, which is in its first season in the FBS ranks, and Massachusetts, which is in its third season as an FBS member.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
