Saturday at The Big House looked and felt like the end of the road for Michigan football in 2026. Michigan State, a 2-6 team that had not won a Big Ten game before Saturday, celebrated around the stadium with Paul Bunyan after a 15-6 win, and first-year head coach Kyle Whittingham was left with only this: “I can’t explain what just happened.”
What happened was a collapse that laid bare just how far the program has fallen.
Michigan managed only 192 total yards and committed four turnovers against a Spartans defense that was already shorthanded, missing four starters and losing more players as the game went on. Seventy-five of those yards came on a garbage-time drive, which kept the Wolverines from being shut out at home.
The offense was a mess from top to bottom. The five-star quarterback this staff benched became the scapegoat for the unit’s problems.
The five-star freshman running back had just seven touches. Jordan Marshall, one of the captains, has only seven carries over the last two games.
For a group that includes about a dozen good-to-great players, the season has turned into a wasted year of eligibility under Whittingham and Jason Beck.
The frustration has already started spilling out. Zack Marshall’s texts leaked on social media last month, and after this loss, it’s hard to imagine he was the only one feeling that way. Michigan now sits in the bottom 15 nationally in yards per game and points per game, while averaging almost two turnovers a game.
Even the defense, which has been the steadier side of the ball, is part of the strange picture. Per AP’s Josh Dubow, Michigan became the 15th team in the last 15 seasons to allow 21 points or fewer in each of its first nine games.
The other 14 teams went 119-7 combined. Michigan is 5-4.
That’s the backdrop for the final stretch, and it is not a good one. Whittingham already said two weeks ago, “We’ll probably be 50 percent new guys next year,” a line that sounds like a coach who can feel control slipping away.
Now Michigan has three ranked opponents left, and the path to a bowl game runs through Oregon, UCLA or Ohio State. With the roster looking fractured, the coaching situation uncertain and changes looming at athletic director and university president, the question around the program is no longer just about results. It’s about who is even making the decisions anymore.
After Saturday, though, the larger point is simpler: this program has hit rock bottom.
In Other News...
BYU Could Be Getting Two Key Starters Back At The Right Time
BYUs depth chart for the Baylor game offered a welcome bit of movement, with running back LJ Martin and cornerback Evan Johnson both appearing for the first time since injuries knocked them out. Martin already eased back in last week with limited touches, and his presence now points to a bigger workload as the Cougars try to settle back into a rhythm on offense. Johnsons return to the chart is just as notable on the other side of the ball, especially after he missed the last two games.
There is still some uncertainty layered into the update, though, because tight end Roger Saleapaga is also listed despite his recent injury. For BYU, the timing matters as much as the names themselves, with the Cougars heading into a matchup where reinforcements at key spots could help stabilize both the ground game and the secondary. The only question now is how much each player can actually handle once the game starts. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Became Part Of A Brutal Utah Milestone
BYUs latest trip through the rivalry left it on the wrong side of a significant Utah moment, as the Utes moved up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 after beating the Cougars. It is the highest ranking in Utah program history, and it comes with the kind of momentum that can reshape a season in a hurry, especially when the team at the center of it is still trying to keep its focus on the week-to-week grind.
Morgan Scalley said the message inside the Utah program remains the same: treat every opponent the same and keep working on the parts of the game that still need cleaning up. The next test is a road date with No. 22 Arizona, which gives the Utes another ranked matchup and another chance to prove this climb is about more than one big win over BYU. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Freshman Bruce Branch Is Drawing An AJ Dybantsa Question
Kevin Youngs ability to land elite talent has already changed the conversation around BYU mens basketball, and the latest name drawing attention is freshman Bruce Branch III. Branch, a top prospect who reclassified to 2026, has started to show more in recent games, and Young has pointed to the kind of defensive upside that can make a young player valuable long before the offense fully catches up.
The comparison naturally brings up AJ Dybantsa, the one-and-done star BYU secured in December 2024 before he went on to lead the nation in scoring and become the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Young has even described Branchs style in similar terms, which only adds to the intrigue around how he develops the freshman early and how quickly that progress might show up in a BYU rotation built around high-end recruits. [Read more 🡒]