Michigan’s defense did its part. The offense did not, and that familiar imbalance cost the Wolverines again in a 20-14 loss to Minnesota.
The game never turned into a showcase for Bryce Underwood and the Michigan passing attack. In fact, the Wolverines never put together a true touchdown drive on offense.
Their one offensive score came after Utah transfer Smith Snowden picked off Drake Lindsey, with linebacker Troy Bowles getting a hit on the quarterback as he threw to set up Michigan at the Minnesota 34-yard line. From there, Jordan Marshall punched in a five-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
That was about as clean as it got for Michigan with the ball.
The rest of the afternoon was a slog. Michigan finished with just 180 total yards, including 101 passing yards from Underwood, who also threw two interceptions.
The run game managed 79 yards, with Marshall accounting for the lone rushing touchdown. The Wolverines have now gone through another game where the offense simply couldn’t generate enough to match what the defense gave them.
And the defense gave them plenty.
Defensive coordinator Jay Hill’s unit forced two turnovers, including one returned for a touchdown, and spent more than 37 minutes on the field. Even when the offense put the defense in bad spots, Minnesota was often limited to field goals after Michigan giveaways in its own territory.
That kind of rescue act has become a theme for the Wolverines this season. Against Minnesota, it still wasn’t enough.
Michigan’s problems weren’t just about Minnesota’s defense locking it down. The Wolverines looked disjointed.
The passing game, which had shown signs of life in Underwood’s best outing last week against Iowa, disappeared. The ground game never found room, and the offensive line struggled to give either the backs or the quarterback much of a chance.
Michigan also had trouble spreading the ball around. Underwood leaned heavily on JJ Buchanan and Andrew Marsh, but the production outside that pair was thin.
Buchanan took a hard hit while making a big catch and stayed in the game, though he never looked quite right afterward. Underwood also forced the ball twice into double and triple coverage to Marsh instead of taking the easier option elsewhere.
Tight end Hogan Hansen was the only other Wolverine to catch a pass from Underwood, finishing with three receptions for 22 yards.
It all added up to another frustrating result for a Michigan team whose defense has been good enough to keep games close, but not good enough to carry the load by itself. If the offense doesn’t start finding answers, the rest of the schedule could get ugly fast.
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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 🡒]