Michigan’s defense has done just about everything you could ask of it through seven games. The Wolverines rank third nationally in total defense, seventh against the pass and 15th in scoring defense. They’ve spent more time on the field than the offense, and even have five fewer penalties than the other side of the ball.
And yet Michigan is still 4-3.
That’s the tension hanging over this team right now. The defense has been excellent, but the standard inside the room doesn’t leave much room for moral victories.
Sophomore defensive tackle Bobby Kanka put it plainly Tuesday: “Success on defense, it’s great,” Bobby Kanka said Tuesday. “But we all play the game to win, you know what I mean?
And so it feels good, but we all understand that the goal is to go 1-0, and if we’re not doing that, then we’re falling short somewhere on defense as well. We got to do more to help the other side.”
If there’s one area where Michigan’s defense can still sharpen things, it’s on opening drives. In four of the Wolverines’ eight games, opponents have scored on their first possession. In five of the eight, Michigan has been the team scoring second, and the record tells the story there: falling behind early has not been a winning formula.
That first drive is a tough one to defend because opponents usually have it scripted to start fast. It’s often built to test alignments, settle playmakers in and create tempo. The goal is simple: score, grab control and put the other team in chase mode.
Michigan has felt that firsthand.
After the loss to Iowa on Sept. 26, senior defensive tackle Enow Etta said, “We just gotta get back to the drawing board,” senior defensive tackle Enow Etta said Sept. 26 after the Wolverines’ loss to Iowa. “Coach Whitt always says ‘Do more,’ so what everyone did with this week obviously wasn’t good enough.”
Iowa came out aggressive, moving quickly and using a little of everything - the run game, short throws to the sideline and tempo to keep Michigan off balance. The Hawkeyes didn’t score on the opening drive, but they still flipped the field and pinned the Wolverines deep at their own 3-yard line, stretching the pressure on Michigan’s offense.
Minnesota’s first possession followed a similar script. The Golden Gophers finished the drive with a rushing touchdown, but they had already done damage through the air while marching 80 yards. Michigan’s secondary was forced backward, and the linebackers left too much space in the middle of the field for Minnesota to work with.
Against now-No. 4 Indiana, the first-drive damage was smaller, but the result was still the same. Michigan shut down the Hoosiers’ passing game and held them to 26 yards in a little more than three minutes, yet Indiana still flipped the field, quieted the Wolverines’ offense and scored first two possessions later.
“At the end of the day we got to do our job,” senior cornerback Smith Snowden said after Saturday’s loss. “When we’re on the field, we got to get the job done and that wasn’t the case.”
With Kyle Whittingham sticking with offensive coordinator Jason Beck despite the offense’s lack of progress, Michigan’s path to turning the season around appears to run through the defense. That’s a heavy lift for a unit already performing near the top of the country.
Still, the most practical step may be the simplest one: keep opponents off the board early, and give Michigan’s offense a chance to play from in front instead of constantly trying to claw back.
In Other News...
Michigans Next AD Could Decide More Than Wolverines Fans Realize
Warde Manuels decision to step down at the end of December has put Michigan into the kind of search that tends to ripple well beyond the athletic department. The Wolverines are looking for a new athletic director at a time when the football program is already under pressure, and that means the hire will not just be about administration or fundraising. It could shape how the school approaches one of its biggest public-facing decisions in the months ahead.
Among the names circulating are Candice Story Lee of Vanderbilt, Katie Fraumann, who has ties to Michigan, and David Benedict of UConn. Each brings a different background, but the common thread is the same: this is a hire that may define the direction of the department as much as any move on the field. For Michigan fans, the real intrigue is not only who gets the job, but how quickly that person decides the Wolverines need a different path in football. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Still Has One Problem It Must Solve Before Rutgers
Michigan still has one major decision hanging over it before Rutgers, and it is the sort that can shape everything else on the field. Kyle Whittingham has not settled on a starting quarterback, with freshman Tommy Carr and sophomore Bryce Underwood both in the mix after uneven recent showings. Carr flashed some promise even while dealing with turnovers and sacks, while Underwood has struggled in his last two starts but still carries a leadership presence inside the program.
The next few days of practice will go a long way toward sorting it out, with the staff planning to use those reps to narrow the competition and make the call closer to game time. For Michigan, it is more than just a roster question. The Wolverines are trying to find the steadier option before a conference game that can help set the tone for the stretch ahead, and the answer at quarterback remains the biggest unresolved piece. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Run Game Faces Its Biggest Test Yet At Rutgers
Michigan is heading into a game at Rutgers needing its ground attack to do a lot of the heavy lifting. The Wolverines have leaned on the run game as the most reliable part of an offense that has struggled in several areas this season, and the matchup looks favorable on paper, with Rutgers sitting near the bottom of the Big Ten in run defense. Even with Michigan favored by 14.5 points, this has the feel of a game where the Wolverines need their identity to show up early rather than rely on another tight finish.
The broader concern is that Michigan has already spent much of the season playing closer games than expected and surviving on the margins more often than it would like. Against Rutgers, the path is fairly clear: establish the run, control the pace and avoid giving an underdog enough chances to hang around. If the Wolverines cannot do that against the conferences weakest run defense, it would say plenty about where this offense really stands heading into the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]