Also had a first rate OL…
This is true. Rampant cheating aside, Michigan was able to overcome multiple key departures on the OL, namely All-American Olusegun Oluwatimi at center and starting LT Ryan Hayes, and then had to overcome the injury of Zak Zinter, arguably the best player on their offense.
They fielded a group with some studs like Trevor Keegan, but guys like LeDarius Henderson and Drake Nugent were hardly considered great players. Nugent and Myles Hinton were getting their asses kicked at Stanford. They ended up being key lynchpins in their OL.
At some point, you need guys to answer the call and have the light turn on. Whether it's Baker or Knapp or Lambert, somebody has to answer the call. No excuses.