Michigan football can build on this loss to No. 1 Oregon

It was over at halftime. And then suddenly it wasn't like that anymore.

And for those wondering what kind of fight Sherrone Moore has instilled in this Michigan football program this muddy season – there it was, easy to see, late in the third quarter after UM appeared to have gotten a stop and was ready to take it Get Ball Ball back with a chance to cut the lead to four against the No. 1 team in the country.

That was a victory in itself – at least in a vacuum. The Wolverines made things interesting against Oregon.

If each of the last four games – including this one – is in part an audition for the kind of program Moore envisions, then hanging with a title favorite deep into the fourth quarter counts.

Hey, no big-name college football program wants to be judged on a sliding scale. But here we are with these Wolverines who don't reload like Georgia, Ohio State or Alabama.

When you lose 18 starters and all the NFL talent at the elite programs, 18 more playmakers take their place, or something like that. Not so much in Ann Arbor.

And so this season was always about a few basics: Is the team disciplined? Is it physical? Does it play with sand? Yes, yes, that's Dan Campbell's word, and no one is confusing the leadership in Ann Arbor with what's happening in Allen Park.

But Campbell's principles are football principles, and if a team isn't as talented as the best teams on their schedule, how can they fight? Especially when College Football Playoff hopes have been gone for more than a month?

UM gave itself a real chance here at Michigan Stadium against the explosive and physical Ducks. The Wolverines lost 38-17.

Believe me, it wasn't as one-sided as the final result, although there was a difference in mileage. Still, UM had a chance to make Oregon nervous — much more than nervous, actually, and if it hadn't been for a few formation penalties, it might actually have done that scared them.

A moral victory?

You bet, and if that's an insult to Wolverine Nation's pride, then it is reality. Consider that for a moment this season, not long ago, it seemed like things were about to get a lot worse.

A loss to Michigan State a week ago and the narrative changes. Losses to USC and Minnesota? It's changing even more.

There were nine losses for this program. Find a way to beat Northwestern and it won't be more than six.

Certainly not ideal. But in return they get a bowling game, and then the real work begins in the winter. First, they need to find a quarterback. They could also use some threats at receiver.

Davis Warren, who played his best game of the season — yes, that's relative — trusted future NFL Draft first-rounder Colston Loveland like he should have. But when the all-world tight end wasn't running a route over the middle (and Warren was looking over the middle), he almost never had a place to go.

It didn't help that the Wolverines couldn't escape. No wonder Davis still looked for Loveland. And no wonder his coaches triggered a flea flare in the second half that eventually led to a touchdown.

A touchdown, by the way, that made the score 28-17. The Wolverines were in the thick of things, and when they stopped Oregon on third down on the next possession and the Ducks sent out their punt team, the momentum in the stadium was… real?

Yes, realeven if it didn't feel real and even if the crowd was happy and stunned. The Ducks punted. The Wolverines were ready to put it up. Then a flag waved.

Trey Pierce had positioned himself too far above the ball on the line of scrimmage. He was called for illegal formation – a call you don't see often on defense – and only for 5 yards, but Oregon only needed 4 for a first down.

You could see sagging shoulders on the UM sideline. And you could see how excited the Ducks were about them.

They got the ball. I kept moving it. And on third down, he converted again to get into the red zone. The Wolverines did well to get a field goal.

That kept them within two points. They got the ball twice and had a chance to cut it to seven. The first ended when Loveland couldn't quite hold on to the ball in the third period as he fell out of bounds after a spectacular diving grab.

The second came in the red zone after UM had driven the entire field. Warren missed a throw on first down. Kalel Mullings was stuffed. Alex Orji ran on third-and-long and got some. Then Moore authorized a trick play in which Orji pitched to Semaj Morgan, who tried to throw it back to Orji in the end zone.

It was a strange sequence that took the ball out of Warren's hands; While the creativity was interesting, it made little sense not to rely on Loveland and Warren.

Neither likely will be on the field for UM next season. Loveland will be heading to the NFL. Warren could come back, but Moore will almost certainly reopen the QB competition.

And he will have to.

Of course, he still needs to do a lot more to beat teams like Oregon and Texas again, and closing that gap will determine how long he stays in Ann Arbor.

But at least on one late fall Saturday during a mostly dismal season, his team stopped what looked like an ugly collapse and found a way to give itself a chance. This is important. Maybe not this season, but it will happen at some point in the future.

Oh, and Ohio State is still out there. …

Contact Shawn Windsor: [email protected]. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

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