Michigan’s Ground Game Remains a Work in Progress as Savion Hiter Takes Larger Role

Michigan produced what Kyle Whittingham called its best offensive performance of the season Saturday, but his assessment of the running game remained measured.

“We ran the ball okay on Saturday, not great,” Whittingham said Monday morning. “It needed to be better.”

That evaluation captured the remaining challenge for an offense beginning to show progress. Michigan received a productive passing performance and important quarterback runs, but Whittingham still wants more consistency and efficiency from its traditional rushing attack.

Savion handled the largest share of the backfield work, finishing with 79 yards on 20 carries, according to Whittingham. The workload represented his season high, and the coach credited him with making several tough runs.

Whittingham explained that the distribution reflected effectiveness during the game.

“This is the first game really that I thought that there was some separation in the backs and that Savion was definitely the guy that was being more effective this game,” he said.

Jordan Marshall’s smaller role was not the result of a current injury limitation, Whittingham added. Although Marshall dealt with some minor issues earlier in the season, the coach described him as being as close to full health as could reasonably be expected at this point.

Instead, Michigan stayed with the back producing better results.

That does not mean Whittingham views the rushing problems as a running-back issue alone. He repeatedly connected the ground game to the development and availability of the offensive line.

“We’ve got to continue to work that offensive line and become more physical and more efficient,” he said.

Injuries have complicated that process. Whittingham said Michigan could use another different line configuration this week, although the available personnel had not been finalized.

He praised Avery Gach for stepping in at right guard following an injury and holding up when called upon. Meanwhile, Andrew Sprague’s status remained unresolved Monday morning, with the staff awaiting results from another evaluation before determining whether he could return to practice.

Whittingham also said Andrew Babalola was healthy but still working toward being ready to enter the starting lineup.

Beyond immediate availability, the coach described greater physicality as a longer development process. He said another strength-training cycle would help and emphasized that players need time to absorb the full impact of their position coach.

Still, Michigan cannot wait until the offseason to improve.

Whittingham believes more effective passing can help now by forcing defenses to devote additional players to coverage. That could create more favorable opportunities for the running game.

With Michigan State approaching, the task is to combine those opportunities with stronger blocking and decisive rushing. Saturday offered progress, but Whittingham’s message was clear: Michigan still needs more from the ground game.