Nothing is a sure thing in college football, but over time, there are certain elements of teams or coaching staffs that many presume to be a baseline.
Kyle Whittingham came to Ann Arbor with a penchant for physicality and discipline. So far, the latter has certainly been lacking in games. Michigan football has lost the turnover battle in three of four contests and, perhaps even more notably, has been one of the most penalized teams in the country.
The Wolverines have committed eight or more penalties in three games after doing so just twice in the prior four seasons combined. Many have either led to offensive drives stalling or defensive drives being prolonged, which has affected time of possession, morale and, most recently, the final score.
"We’re 16th in the Big Ten out of 18 teams and like 100-and-something [tied for No. 109] out of 138," Whittingham said of the team's penalties. "We have way too many penalties. We understand that. So it’s a work in progress."
While Whittingham says some penalties are "the cost of doing business," others are entirely unnecessary, like the eight times the Wolverines have been flagged for personal fouls in the opening month of the season, including twice in the fourth quarter in a 20-19 loss to Iowa.
While Trey Pierce's hands to the face didn't cost U-M, Zeke Berry's unnecessary roughness did. U-M had forced an incompletion with less than a minute to play, and the defense was about to be one fourth-and-12 play away from holding on to a hard-fought win.
Instead, Berry shoved an Iowa receiver after the play and was dinged for 15 yards, which reset the down-and-distance for the Hawkeyes. Four plays later, Iowa connected on a game-winning touchdown as time expired.
Two weeks prior, Jyaire Hill committed a similar penalty against Oklahoma, the only difference was the Sooners didn't capitalize on the extra life. It also helped Hill's cause that he later made a game-changing interception that set up U-M's game winning score.
Still, something that's entirely avoidable has become a troubling pattern, and U-M is trying to figure out how to fix it.
"Yeah, there is a film review," Whittingham said of the process. "We don’t punish them in practice. I guess if we can’t get it cleaned up right away, then maybe that’s something we’ll have to go to. But to this point, just keep coaching it, keep educating, decision-making. Like I said, some of the penalties are just going to happen.
"But it’s the thoughtless ones that we could’ve very easily avoided. Those are the ones that drive me nuts."
Line health up in the air
U-M edge John Henry Daley was injured on the penultimate play of U-M's game against Iowa. Blake Frazier went down earlier in the contest and hobbled off the field before ultimately returning and playing 69 of 73 offensive snaps.
Each is a key piece on the respective side of the line, but it's not clear if either will be available for No. 24 Michigan's (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) matchup with Minnesota (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) on Saturday, Oct. 3 (12:00 p.m., Fox).
“We just have to take it day-by-day at this point,” Whittingham said. “By Wednesday, I would think, we should have a much clearer [picture]. That’s the first day the Big Ten injury report comes out, so that’ll coincide with when we have a pretty good handle on it.”
The offensive line is already banged up. Michigan was without right tackle Andrew Sprague, tackle Andrew Babalola and "Rhino" Manuel Beigel. Beigel is expected to begin practicing on Monday, while Babalola is said to be cleared to return to practice next week, according to Whittingham.
Sprague's outlook, however, remains murky.“We’re closer to clarity than we were,” Whittingham said. “We’re not a point yet where we know definitively one way or another. But it’s starting to come into focus a little bit. There’s one or two more things that are going to be assessed and evaluated, and then we should get the clarity we need if he’s going to become available.”
Depending on how everybody progresses, it could mean yet another new offensive line combination, which would be the fourth variation through five games. That's not exactly a welcomed sight for the first road game of the year, but it's the hand Michigan may be dealt.
“We’ll have to sit down and figure out the best combination because that will put us in a little bit of a bind,” Whittingham said. “Nobody feels sorry for us, so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ll have to figure out who the best five are and the best configuration and go from there.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kyle Whittingham says some Michigan football penalties 'drive me nuts'
