Michigan’s problems start with the ball, and Kyle Whittingham isn’t letting anything else come before that.
By the time the question about turnovers finally arrived at his Monday morning press conference, Whittingham had already made his point more than once. He kept circling back to the same theme, and by the end of the session he was even more blunt about where his focus sits.
“I’ve mentioned (turnovers) like five times already,” Whittingham said Monday when the question finally came. “And I’ll mention it again, too.”
His message never changed. After Saturday’s loss at Minnesota, Michigan’s turnover issues have become the thing he can’t move past, and he said as much with no hesitation.
“I keep coming back to turnovers,” Whittingham said. “Nothing else matters if we keep losing the turnover margin. Nothing else matters.”
That stance comes with the Wolverines buried at 122nd in the nation out of 138 FBS teams in turnover margin at minus-4. They have given the ball away nine times and forced only five takeaways. Through five games, they’ve won that battle just once - even though it was one of the biggest goals for Whittingham and defensive coordinator Jay Hill heading into the season.
That lone win in the turnover column came against then-No. 11 Oklahoma, a 17-10 Michigan victory that looks even better after the Sooners’ upset of then-No.
1 Texas last weekend. Senior cornerback Jyaire Hill grabbed the game’s only takeaway when he intercepted Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, setting up the Wolverines in strong field position for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
The last two weeks have shown how small the margin can be. Michigan lost the turnover battle 1-0 against then-No.
17 Iowa and then 3-2 against Minnesota. Both games ended in one-score losses.
The one time the Wolverines came out ahead by a single turnover, they beat Oklahoma in Week 2.
“If we continue to lose the turnover margin, we’ll continue to lose. Period.
Cut and dried,” Whittingham said. “We have got to get that fixed.”
The offense is an obvious place to start looking. Michigan’s five lost fumbles rank 109th nationally, and its four interceptions thrown rank 61st. Overall, the Wolverine offense hasn’t come close to matching what the third-ranked defense has produced.
Still, Whittingham didn’t put the entire blame on that side of the ball. Instead, he made a personnel change on special teams, announcing that sophomore Andrew Marsh is no longer the punt returner after muffing and losing his second punt of the season against Minnesota. For Whittingham, that kind of mistake is unacceptable.
And the defense isn’t getting a pass, either. Michigan’s unit created some pressure points against Oklahoma and opened the Minnesota game with activity in the takeaway department, but it hasn’t been able to keep those chances coming. That was especially clear against the Gophers.
The Wolverines entered the second half with a clean turnover sheet, then Marsh’s muffed punt at the start of the third quarter quickly flipped the game. Three turnovers followed after sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood threw two interceptions on three plays. Michigan’s defense, which had already recorded two interceptions in the first half, stalled out after halftime, spent 21 minutes on the field and didn’t force another takeaway as the margin slipped away in a 3-2 loss.
“When you start getting a few on defense it starts to snowball as well, so I think it’s a give-and-take,” Whittingham said. “Unfortunately, this year has been more give than take.”
Now Michigan heads into the week with two losses and a coach who has made his priority unmistakable. There are other issues waiting after the bye week, but Whittingham’s message was clear: until the turnover problem gets fixed, everything else is secondary.
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