Junior cornerback Troy Woolfolk came up with a way this week for the Michigan football team to salvage a season that is about to dip below the horizon.

“The main thing I want for our seniors is, No. 1, to beat Ohio State, which would result in a bowl game,” Woolfolk said. “Wisconsin, we want to beat them, too. Ohio State? We haven’t beaten them in five years. As bad as this season is going, it would be redeemed by beating Ohio State.”

Michigan fans might quibble with that statement. Even a win over the hated Buckeyes next week might not save this train wreck.

After starting 4-0, the Wolverines have lost five straight Big Ten Conference games to sit 5-5 overall and 1-5 in the conference going into Saturday’s game against the University of Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. They have not beaten a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent since Sept. 26.

They need to win one of their final two games or fail to go to a bowl for a second straight year.

Rich Rodriguez is 8-14 in two seasons as Michigan’s coach, including 3-11 in the Big Ten. The last back-to-back losing seasons at the school were 1962 and ’63.

“We did mention it. It’s one of the goals we have for our seniors,” Rodriguez said of becoming bowl eligible during the Big Ten coaches’ teleconference Tuesday. “They have a couple chances to do it, but they’re going to be great challenges.”

On Monday, Rodriguez got the obligatory vote of confidence from outgoing athletic director Bill Martin, who announced his retirement last month, effective next September.

“Rich is an outstanding coach,” Martin told the Detroit News. “There is no question he’s got my total support. I think the world of that guy. Is he perfect in every respect? Nobody is. But he works hard. He’ll get it right.”

Michigan leads the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 32 points per game, and has made some strides offensively with Rodriguez’s spread attack.

“We expected to make some (progress) because we had some guys coming back on the O-line and some of the skill positions,” Rodriguez said. “The X-factor was quarterback. We didn’t know how quickly our young guys would be able to step in.”

True freshman Tate Forcier got off to a strong start, leading comeback wins over Notre Dame and Indiana, but faltered in October.

Senior running back Brandon Minor ran for a season-high 154 yards and three touchdowns in the 38-36 loss to Purdue last week, but aggravated a high ankle sprain that has bothered him all season. He also suffered a shoulder injury and Rodriguez was unsure how healthy Minor would be against UW.

Backup running back Carlos Brown played sparingly last week due to knee tendinitis, but is expected to practice this week.

Those injuries put even more burden on Forcier, who ranks 10th in the conference in passing, averaging 163.6 yards per game.

“Being a leader of the team, you can never send your seniors out empty-handed, and that’s something I don’t want to do,” Forcier said. “A lot of it’s on me, how I play and how I motivate these guys.”

Michigan’s biggest problems have been on defense under first-year coordinator Greg Robinson. In the second halves of the last three games, the Wolverines have been outscored 75-12.

That has led to questions about Michigan’s coaches not making the proper halftime adjustments.

“You’ve got time to make some adjustments ... not as much as people think,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody talks about halftime adjustments. Really, this is what’s happening, ‘This is what you’re seeing,’ kind of calm them down then just go play.”

Michigan ranks last in the conference in time of possession, averaging 26 minutes, 35 seconds, meaning its defense is on the field a long time. That’s an issue this week because UW ranks first in TOP with an average of 32:58.

Rodriguez said the Badgers control games by running the ball with their big backs behind a big offensive line.

“They keep the ball, they keep the time of possession and their defense has played so well, they’ve gotten a lot of three-and-outs and put the ball right back to their offense,” he said. “You’ve got to do all you can to not let them control the game like they have.”

That will be hard for a Michigan defense that Rodriguez said is undersized.

“We’re not a very big team,” Rodriguez said. “Right now, we’ve struggled some defensively when teams have come right at us, so we’ve got to try and find an answer to it.”

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