This year, the Wolverines seem to have found most of them. They opened the season at 3-4, losing to average competition (Minnesota, Utah, Rutgers), and beating only one top-100 team (dismal Penn State). Against Minnesota, the coaches made the curious decision to start backup quarterback Shane Morris–then, even more inexplicably, let him back in the game after taking a hit that turned out to be a mild concussion. Within days, more than 1,000 fans rallied on President Schlissel’s lawn to call for the termination of athletic director Dave Brandon.

While few seem to want head coach Brady Hoke to return in 2015, Brandon is at the center of the storm. The immediate complaint was a belief that the AD had hung his head coach out to dry. On Monday, Hoke told the roiling media that “by his information” Morris did not have a concussion–only to be contradicted, late that night, by a press release from Brandon. While Brandon later took the blame for the communication snafus that let Morris back on the field, it was only the latest in a long list of grievances, including a flubbed change in seating policies that drove off thousands of student fans.

The complaints against Hoke are onefold and the snare of his profession: Someone has to lose. Just not us. And certainly not us, game after game, against any team with a pulse. Of the 128 teams tracked by thepowerrank.com, in mid-October the Wolverines were a miserable number 100 in scoring.

While it was predictable that the offensive line would struggle–it was weak even before losing two players to the NFL this year–some hoped that growth by fifth-year quarterback Devin Gardner and other “skill” players might overcome the frailties up front. It hasn’t happened. Gardner remains the Wolverines’ only true playmaker, but he also continues to turn the ball over at a prodigious rate–in October, the U-M ranked next-to-last in turnovers.

It’s not all Gardner’s fault–he has been working with a limited running game, unreliable pass protection, and injuries to his best receivers. But new offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier has struggled as much as (or more than) prior OC Al Borges to make the pieces work.

Even with the offense scoring points for the opposition and turnovers pressuring the defense, the Wolverines are number five in yards per rush and well better than average in points allowed (number twenty-seven). But Greg Mattison’s changes to the defensive line haven’t gone as well as hoped, in part because injured nickel back Jabrill Peppers has barely played. And, wearily, the defense has sagged at the end of the first halves, routinely allowing last-minute scores.

Meanwhile, while Michigan football is at its nadir, a folk hero is being born in Tucson. Arizona not only hired Rich Rodriguez after Michigan cast him off–they also grabbed his longtime DC Jeff Casteel, whom Michigan wouldn’t spring for. Reunited, they ran the historically awful Wildcats out to a 5-1 start, including a stunning upset of number-two Oregon on the road.

Michigan will likely finish some place between 4-8 and 6-6. It is hard to see any fourth-year coach surviving that. But if Brandon fires Hoke, his personal choice, can he convince another top-flight veteran to work for him?