Michigan escaped Saturday night with a 13-12 win over Western Michigan, but the final score only tells part of the story. For long stretches at the Big House, the Wolverines looked anything but safe, and even the late finish left plenty of people shaking their heads.
Bryce Underwood did deliver a big throw when Michigan needed one, and J.J. Buchanan came down with an impressive catch.
Still, the sequence that followed felt like the kind of break that can define a game. It sure looked like Michigan got an extra second on the clock, and that’s where the debate has lived ever since.
The frustration spilled beyond the field, too. Dan Wolken posted, “An absurd decision to give Michigan one more play. We all saw the clock with our own eyes.
Honestly the Big Ten should be ashamed but they won’t be.”
Whether the clock issue was a blown call or not, the result is staying put. Michigan is 1-0, and the scoreboard says win. But the performance, from start to finish, left no reason for celebration.
Kyle Whittingham made that part clear. He said the team did not come off the field in a mood to party, and there was no “hooting and hollering” after the game.
That tracks. Western Michigan, the defending MAC champions, came in with a solid plan and executed it well enough to make Michigan look vulnerable all night.
Whittingham didn’t hide from the reality of it. “We're not going to win a lot of ballgames if we don't fix some things and fix them right away,” he said.
The bigger concern now is what comes next. Oklahoma is coming to town next week, and if Michigan brings anything close to what it showed against Western Michigan, the fallout could get ugly fast. A loss would have pushed Whittingham into an even tougher spot, but even with the win, a bad showing against Oklahoma would still raise serious questions about the hire.
That’s the uneasy part of this. One game doesn’t define a season, and teams can change quickly in either direction.
Michigan is probably not as poor as it looked Saturday night, but it’s hard to argue this team is anywhere near where it needs to be. The quarterback play and the offensive line both need a dramatic jump, and fast.
Those were supposed to be strengths. Instead, both looked shaky, and in some ways worse than expected. If that doesn’t change, the season could go off the rails in a hurry.
There is still time, as Whittingham pointed out. But Michigan can’t afford to treat this as a harmless September scare. The fixes have to come now.
In Other News...
Big Ten Felt Forced To Address Michigan Ending Everyone Noticed
The late-game ending in Michigans win over Western Michigan drew enough attention that the Big Ten felt compelled to explain it. Replay officials added one second back to the clock after determining a Western Michigan player who had stepped out of bounds touched the ball with time still left, a ruling that changed the final sequence and left plenty of people looking for answers after the whistle.
To its credit, the conference did not leave the decision hanging. It released a statement and video footage from the replay officials discussion, laying out the reasoning behind the clock adjustment and showing how the call was reached. In a game that already had the feel of a routine nonconference result, the ending became the kind of small but notable detail that can linger long after the score is final. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Fans Have Every Right To Worry About This Offense
Michigans defense did its part against Western Michigan, holding the Broncos to 95 total yards and forcing a turnover on downs, but the first-half conversation still belonged to an offense that never settled in after the opening drive. After that early touchdown march, the Wolverines managed only 41 yards before halftime, a stretch that featured shaky pass protection, limited push in the run game and an attack that kept leaving too much for the quarterback to sort out on his own.
Bryce Underwood showed some early rhythm by completing a handful of throws, but the pressure around him grew as the half went on and the mistakes followed, including an interception. For a Michigan team that expected cleaner execution and more balance, the concerns are obvious because the defense may be good enough to keep games manageable, but it cannot keep bailing out an offense that is still searching for consistency. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Offense Has A Real Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Michigan opened with exactly the kind of sequence that can lull a crowd into thinking the offense has found its footing, as Bryce Underwood helped engineer a touchdown on the first drive. From there, though, the early momentum faded fast. The passing game never fully settled in, and the run game had a hard time getting going, leaving the Wolverines to grind through a first half that looked a lot less comfortable than the opening possession suggested.
The numbers told the story of the frustration, with Michigan managing just 46 rushing yards and averaging only 2.5 yards per carry before halftime. Underwood showed flashes, but the mistakes came too, including errant throws that turned into interceptions and helped leave Michigan clinging to a 7-6 lead at the break. For a team that wants to lean on balance and control, the offense already had a problem it could not hide. [Read more 🡒]