Kyle Whittingham’s first game in charge of Michigan has already produced the kind of sideline moment college football fans love to turn into a meme.
Michigan opened the season looking sharp on its first possession, with QB Bryce Underwood steering an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that matched the billing around the top prospect. But the good feeling didn’t last long. Western Michigan answered with a field goal on the next series, and when Michigan got the ball back expecting to stretch the lead, the offense stalled out after only 17 yards and punted.
That was only the start of the rough patch. The Wolverines went three-and-out on their first possession of the second quarter, then did it again.
And again. Across those three drives, Michigan ran 12 plays and managed just nine yards, a stretch that clearly had Whittingham frustrated on the sideline.
By the middle of the quarter, he was caught grabbing his face in a facepalm that quickly spread online.
The reaction from fans came fast. “12.5 million for 4 years… Not impressed,” one user posted on X.
“FIRE KYLE WHITTINGHAM,” another wrote. A third joked, “Kyle Whittingham rethinking EVERYTHING,” while another added, “Whittingham better have a helluva a half time speech cooking.”
One more summed up the mood this way: “It’s going to be a long season in Ann Arbor. Whittingham might retire early.”
Even with the struggles, Michigan went into halftime up 7-6 and still had every chance to handle Western Michigan in the second half. The bigger concern is the possibility of an upset, especially with the Wolverines’ history at home against non-power conference teams in mind. Michigan has not lost a home game to a non-power conference opponent since Toledo beat them 13-10 in 2008.
Whittingham is trying to avoid that same kind of opening-night embarrassment in his first game at the helm. But with Oklahoma waiting next week, and with many already viewing the Sooners as a national title dark horse, the pressure is only going to build unless Michigan comes out and buries Western Michigan after the break.
In Other News...
Big Ten Felt Forced To Address Michigan Ending Everyone Noticed
The late-game clock change in Michigans win over Western Michigan drew plenty of attention, and now the Big Ten has stepped in to explain it. According to the conference, replay officials restored one second after determining that a Western Michigan player who had stepped out of bounds still touched the ball with one second left, giving the crew a reason to adjust the clock.
The conference backed up the ruling by releasing video footage of the replay officials discussion, a move that usually tells you the noise around a call has gotten loud enough to demand a formal response. For Michigan, the play itself was only one small moment in a game that had already been decided, but the explanation became part of the postgame conversation anyway. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Fans Have Every Right To Worry About This Offense
Michigans offense gave fans plenty to chew on in the first half against Western Michigan, and not much of it was comforting. After an opening touchdown drive, the unit went quiet, managing only 41 yards the rest of the way as quarterback Bryce Underwood had a mixed start that quickly turned into a mess under pressure. The offensive line did not help matters, with problems showing up both in pass protection and in the run game.
Meanwhile, the defense did what it could to keep the game under control, limiting Western Michigan to 95 total yards and forcing a turnover on downs. But for a fan base trying to gauge what this offense might look like against better competition, the early struggles were hard to ignore. Underwoods interception only added to the unease, and Michigan will have to sort out whether this was just a rough stretch or a sign of bigger issues ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Offense Has A Real Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Michigan opened with exactly the kind of first series fans wanted to see, marching down the field for a touchdown from Bryce Underwood and briefly making the offense look settled. After that, though, the rhythm faded quickly. The ground game never got rolling in the first half, and Michigan managed only 46 rushing yards while averaging 2.5 yards per carry, a sluggish start that left the attack leaning heavily on a young quarterback.
Underwood showed flashes of what he can bring, but the first half also came with the growing pains that can stall an offense in a hurry, including errant throws and interceptions. The result was a 7-6 halftime lead that felt a lot less comfortable than the opening drive suggested, and it leaves Michigan with a familiar question to answer if it wants the rest of the day to look different. [Read more 🡒]