Kyle Whittingham was supposed to be the fix at Michigan - the coach who would strip away the noise, tighten up the operation and drag the Wolverines back to plain old football. Five games into his first season, that has not happened. Michigan is 3-2, the offense still looks stuck in the same rut, and the discipline issues have only added another layer of frustration.
What makes the start even harder to swallow is what Whittingham left behind. Utah, the program he built into a winner, is rolling in his first season away from it.
The Utes are 5-0, ranked No. 11 in the country and in position to make a run at the Big 12 title. They’ve handled business with ease.
Michigan, meanwhile, has been sweating through games it should have controlled.
That contrast naturally raises the question: did Utah make the right call in moving on to Morgan Scalley, and did Michigan miss on Whittingham?
On paper, Whittingham’s résumé still carries real weight. He won plenty at Utah in the Pac-12 and has been around long enough to command respect.
But the deeper look in this case points to the same old issue that has followed his teams for years: offense. That side of the ball has not been his calling card, and Michigan is feeling it now.
Utah’s first season without him has only sharpened the comparison. The Utes are scoring 42.5 points per game and have put up more than 31 points in every contest.
On defense, they’re allowing just 13 points per game. More importantly, they’re not just winning - they’re burying the teams they’re supposed to beat.
Michigan hasn’t done that. The Wolverines have looked shaky in close moments, and the record could easily look worse. They are one second away from being 2-4, and the Oklahoma game was far tighter than it should have been.
That brings the spotlight to Bryce Underwood. The expectation was that he would take a real jump under Whittingham, but that hasn’t happened.
Maybe Underwood simply isn’t as advanced as some believed. Maybe the system is the problem.
Either way, the fit has not produced the kind of growth Michigan wanted.
And that part matters, because Whittingham has never been known as a quarterback developer. In a sport where a coach often wants to force his own system onto the roster in front of him, that can become a problem fast.
The numbers between the two quarterbacks tell the story pretty clearly. Utah’s Devon Dampier has 1,135 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions through the same number of games as Underwood, even though he has been pulled from games after Utah built huge leads.
Underwood has 881 passing yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions. Right now, the Utah quarterback looks far more comfortable and far more productive in his setup.
Still, the season is not over, and Michigan has seven games left to try to straighten things out. The bye week might have offered Whittingham and the Wolverines a chance to reset. But if the slide continues, the questions around this hire are only going to get louder.
In Other News...
Michigan Teammate Fires Back As Andrew Sprague Rumors Keep Growing
Andrew Spragues absence has become one of the quieter but more persistent storylines around Michigan football since the Oklahoma game, with the offensive tackle sidelined by an unspecified health issue. As the questions have lingered, teammate Jake Guarnera stepped forward publicly to push back on the social media speculation, making clear that Sprague remains with the team and is still contributing even while he has not been on the field.
The comments add some needed clarity, especially after coach Kyle Whittingham said Spragues situation is health-related and that doctors are working on it. For Michigan, the key issue now is less about the online noise and more about patience, since Sprague is not expected back immediately and the Wolverines will have to keep navigating his absence while the recovery process plays out. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Has A Quiet Weapon While The Offense Searches For Answers
While Michigans offense keeps looking for a steadier rhythm, the Wolverines have leaned on a part of the game that has hardly made any noise at all. Through the first five games, Michigan has held every opponent to 20 points or fewer, and when the team has stumbled in losses to Iowa and Minnesota, the defense still gave itself a chance by keeping those games tight. In the background of that grind, sophomore punter Cam Brown has quietly become a useful weapon by regularly forcing opponents to start deep in their own end.
Browns value has been hard to miss for special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs and for teammates who have watched him turn field position into an advantage. His work ethic has drawn praise as Michigan searches for answers on offense, and his consistency has given the Wolverines another way to control games while the bigger issues get sorted out. It is the kind of under-the-radar production that does not usually headline a Saturday, but it has mattered plenty to a team still trying to find its best version. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Hits A Dangerous Pressure Point Against Penn State
Michigan and Penn State are heading into their Week 7 meeting in the 2026 college football season with both programs trying to steady themselves in Big Ten play. It has not been the kind of stretch either side envisioned under new leadership, with Michigan adjusting to Kyle Whittingham and Penn State working through the early days of Matt Campbells tenure after consecutive conference losses.
For Michigan, the pressure point is hard to miss: the offense still needs to find more consistency, even as Bryce Underwood gives the Wolverines a possible running threat to lean on. Penn State, meanwhile, needs splash plays to change the feel of its own offense, and special teams could end up carrying more weight than usual in a matchup where both teams are searching for any edge that can stop the slide. [Read more 🡒]