Kyle Whittingham’s first weeks at Michigan have already turned into a rough early test, and Saturday made the situation look even worse.
The Wolverines dropped a 20-14 decision to Minnesota in a game that slipped away in ugly fashion. Michigan finished 0-2 in Big Ten play after falling to Iowa and Minnesota, and this one felt especially damaging because the Wolverines handed it over with mistakes all over the field.
They muffed a punt, threw two interceptions, turned it over on downs and then punted again. After blocking a punt in Minnesota territory, Michigan still couldn’t turn that into points.
The offense never scored in the second half.
That was the story of the afternoon: missed chances, broken execution and a team that never recovered once Minnesota seized control.
Michigan’s coaching looks like a serious problem
This has the feel of a badly coached team, and the game did little to soften that view. Michigan committed only six penalties, but the turnovers and breakdowns were enormous.
Andrew Marsh never should have tried to field the punt on the move. The defense had held before Minnesota finally broke through after the first Bryce Underwood interception.
The start was poor, and the issues seemed to trace back to the sideline. The offensive line was sloppy.
The play calls didn’t make sense. Underwood looked like a quarterback who had regressed after his best outing a week ago.
It’s only six games into the Kyle Whittingham era, but the hire already looks like a mistake. This has the feel of one of the worst-coached Michigan teams in recent memory.
The offensive line made everything harder
Underwood will take plenty of blame, and he deserves some of it. He missed Marsh on a wide-open touchdown and never got the ball out. But the protection around him was a mess.
On the second interception, it looked like either a run-pass option or a design where the tight end was supposed to come across the formation to block an EDGE. Whatever the intent was, it fell apart fast. Jaxon Howard got upfield immediately, got a hand on Underwood’s arm and helped force the turnover.
Minnesota took the lead after that and never gave it back. PJ Fleck didn’t even go for two to make it a seven-point game, which said plenty about how Minnesota viewed Michigan’s offense.
The ground game was no answer either. Michigan ran it 28 times for 79 yards. That’s a bad number on its own, and it looks even worse when the same run plays keep getting stuffed and the team keeps wasting chances with its best players on the field.
Underwood had a rough one
After his strongest game last week, Underwood followed it with a step backward. He finished 10 of 21 for 101 yards with two interceptions. He was sacked three times and ran for just 20 yards.
He had trouble when pressure arrived. At times he overthrew open receivers. At other times, he didn’t even let it go when the window was there.
It was only one game, but Michigan had chances for its quarterback to make winning plays. He didn’t come through, and neither did the rest of the offense.
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Jordan Marshalls postgame frustration after Michigans loss to Minnesota said plenty about where the Wolverines are right now. The running back didnt sugarcoat the mess on the field, pointing to the mistakes and the lack of cohesion that have made this stretch so hard to watch, and he made it clear the team cant afford to keep drifting through games without sharper execution or better accountability.
Marshall also framed the upcoming bye week as a chance for the roster to look inward and tighten things up. He said the players need to own their part, get more connected and play with more purpose, while also expressing trust that the coaching staff can make the necessary adjustments. For a Michigan team searching for answers, that blend of frustration and faith may be the clearest sign of how much work still remains. [Read more 🡒]
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Bryce Underwoods performance only sharpened the concern, with two interceptions and a few missed opportunities leaving Michigan stuck without enough answers when it mattered most. For a team trying to steady itself after another frustrating result, the bigger problem looks less like one bad evening and more like an offense that has yet to find a reliable identity. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Fans Have A Bigger Worry After Herbstreits Warning Sign
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Coach Whittingham acknowledged the problems after the loss, pointing first to issues on defense and then to a longer list of deficiencies the staff is trying to clean up. He said the situation ranks among the biggest challenges of his career, a blunt assessment that matches the mood around the program. The warning sign now is less about one upset than about whether Michigan can fix enough before the season slips further from reach. [Read more 🡒]