74 days until Michigan football: Wolverines were one of the slowest-paced teams in the nation in 2023
There are 74 days until the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines football team takes the field in the Aug. 31 opener against Fresno State. Each day until then, we’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
The number that inspires today’s article is the 5,741 yards that Michigan football racked up over the course of the 15-game, national championship-winning season in 2023. That figure ranks fifth in program history for a single season, behind 2022 (6,423 yards), 2010 (6,353), 2021 (6,203) and 2003 (5,807).
The Wolverines played two more games in 2023 than they did in 2010 and 2003, and one more than 2022 and 2021. A big reason why the 2023 offense didn’t register more yards was pace of play.
| Rank | Season (Games) | Net Yards |
| 1. | 2022 (14) | 6,423 |
| 2. | 2010 (13) | 6,353 |
| 3. | 2021 (14) | 6,203 |
| 4. | 2003 (13) | 5,807 |
| 5. | 2023 (15) | 5,741 |
Michigan ranked 131 of 133 FBS teams in seconds per play, according to Team Rankings, at 30.9 seconds. That means on an average down, the Wolverines snapped the football with less than 10 seconds to go on the play clock. The two teams that were slower than Michigan last season are Army (31.0) and Air Force (31.1), two service academies.
Now, a multitude of factors go into why Michigan played slow last season, one of them being that it was up on opponents the majority of the season, mostly by wide margins. The Wolverines trailed for a total of 41 minutes and 47 seconds in 15 games, under three quarters of game time — just astounding. They were only down in five games.
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Michigan ran the clock, kept possession of the football, ranking 16th nationally in average time of possession per game (32:14.20) and pummeled opponents en route to victory.
It’s not that Michigan was an up-tempo team in 2022, though. The Wolverines were 122nd nationally in pace of play (28.8 seconds per play). That 2022 offense was more prolific, averaging 6.6 yards per play to the 6.2 Michigan put up in 2023.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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