Michigan’s trip to Minnesota comes with a straightforward mandate: clean up the mess.
After a 3-1 start, the Wolverines were finally punished for the little things in last weekend’s loss to Iowa. Michigan controlled the box score, piled up nearly everything that usually points to a win and still walked away beaten by a single point after the Hawkeyes marched 91 yards for the deciding score.
That kind of defeat leaves a clear message behind it, and running back Jordan Marshall put it plainly when asked what the offense should look like moving forward.
"My vision of what we should look like on Saturday is clean football," Marshall said. "I don't think we've played a clean game with penalties, with shooting ourselves in the foot. What would we look like if we had maybe one penalty, and we're having explosive plays, and we're building off each other?
"I'm not saying there's not going to be bad plays. In every football game, there's going to be, but how do we limit those bad plays, and I think we're doing better as that. We're coming together as an offense, but it's also trusting each other, and I think the trust is growing every single week - not only player to player, but coach to coach."
Michigan’s issues against Iowa were hard to miss. The Wolverines finished 2-for-4 in the red zone and gave the ball away twice. Bryce Underwood and Andrew Marsh had a miscommunication that ended in an interception, and Jason Beck’s call for Underwood to go up and over the pile on fourth-and-one got stopped.
The penalty problem was there too. Michigan was flagged eight times for 75 yards, and several of those mistakes showed up at the worst possible moments.
That has been the season-long theme. The Wolverines have yet to put together a clean game, even though they’re still just one play away from being 4-0 and looking like a top-10 team. Instead, the sloppiness has kept them from cashing in on chances.
The numbers back that up. Michigan is minus-3 in turnover margin.
It ranks No. 114 nationally in penalty yards per game, averaging 72.3 yards and eight penalties a game. In the red zone, the Wolverines sit at No. 118 in efficiency, scoring points 75% of the time once they get there.
Marshall believes that kind of cleanup could alter the feel of the whole season.
"Obviously, our goal is to win the Big Ten, but we still have a lot of Big Ten games left," said Marshall. "We play a lot of good football teams along that route, so again, it's just getting better every single week and taking one week at a time, and it's going to be big for us getting this road win.
A lot of us haven't played Minnesota, so just going in there, getting our first Big Ten win on the road is important for us, and we have to do that as a team, and I think away games help you come together. It helps you get closer as a team, and I'm excited for the challenge we have ahead."
Michigan’s bigger goals are still intact, even after the Iowa loss. The Big Ten Championship Game remains within reach, and the Wolverines still control their own fate.
Maybe the setback was the jolt they needed. Saturday in Minnesota will show whether they respond with sharper football.
Michigan and Minnesota kick off Saturday at Noon ET on FOX.
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