It didn’t. I do think there is reason for cautious optimism about the offensive performance though. When you break it down by series, we did a better job generally moving the ball against an elite team than we’ve done arguably since joining the BIG outside of the 2015 Michigan State game. And that one was a home game (I’m sure the crowd contributed to some of those false starts that stalled our offense).
The D is solid this year, although they were pretty solid year, except when worn down. But the players this year are older and we have some key players back from injury.
IMO, the O shows the most improvement, especially at OL and at QB/WR. Last year, I held my breath every time one of our QBs was about to throw. The throws were often made under intense pressure, the WRs and the QBs often seemed to be on different pages, the passes were often off-target and/or the WRs didn't adjust to or fight for the ball.
This year, the OL is much better so far, the QB has more time and the RBs have a bit more room. The WRs are getting a bit more separation, the routes seem more productive, and the WRs are doing a bit better job of adjusting to the play/throw and fighting for the ball. Still a few cases of QB/WR on different pages, but far less than it seemed last year.
To me, those are the most obvious improvements over last season. But... we haven't really seen enough play against really tough competition to say if those improvements will be enough to compete when the opponents are playing well themselves. And while we did a bit better moving the ball against UM, we still came away with far too few points to pose a serious challenge.
So we need to wait and see what happens after next week. I'm staying in neutral about the progress until I see if there is consistency against equal or better competition. There's only one more "expected" win and the rest will be battles.
