The bye week was a time for Michigan football to self-reflect.
To assign some blame for why the season has so quickly gone off the rails, as well as to address the issues. The quarterback? The running backs? The offensive line? The offensive coordinator's calls, or just his scheme? A suddenly porous fourth-quarter defense?
Yes, U-M coach Kyle Whittingham had a lot to assess in the Wolverines' off week, but what he came back with as Michigan (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) prepares for Penn State (3-3, 0-3) was far from a surprise.
"The one thing that is holding us back, and it sounds too simple, the fans don't want to hear it, but the turnover margin," he told Jon Jansen on the "Inside Michigan Football" show. "You can't win [turning] the ball over and being
minus in the turnover margin. If we're plus in the turnover margin through five games, we're undefeated, I can tell you that without a doubt.
"So it's pretty simple in the respect of what is the biggest problem. It's, but you know, turning over the ball on offense and not taking it away enough on defense ... that, if you [ask] 'what is far and away our biggest problem', nothing else is even close, it's winning the turnover margin."
The Wolverines' turnover margin is tied for 122nd in the nation (out of 138 FBS-level teams) at minus-4, matching Rutgers (never a good thing) for the worst mark in the Big Ten. It has been a constant problem for U-M, which lost the turnover battle in four of its five games. Even in its lone turnover win (Oklahoma, 1-0), Whittingham's team put the ball on the ground more times (twice) than the Sooners (once), only to recover all three.
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It starts with quarterback Bryce Underwood, whom Whittingham reiterated will remain the starter – and not because of Underwood's healthy NIL marker.
"There's one thing you weigh, who gives you a better chance to win? Starts and stops right there," Whittingham told Jansen. "Has nothing to do with what year you are, how much your money is. Nothing matters except winning football games and getting your best 11 out there."
Getting Underwood to protect the football better is job No. 1.
He has as many turnovers (seven) as he does touchdowns, with four interceptions and three fumbles. But it's the entire team, both sides of the ball, that must improve. In fact, star wideout Andrew Marsh will no longer be returning punts after muffing two attempts, though Whittingham indicated there's a health factor related to the decision to make the switch.
But the defense, which has been excellent in many regards – the Wolverines enter Week 7 at No. 3 in the nation in total defense (241.4 yards per game) – also hasn't created enough turnovers. It managed two Oct. 3 against Minnesota − one pick-six and another interception which set up the offense up with a short field − but was a season high.
"We are not doing a good enough job shortening the field for our offense and putting them in good situations," Whittingham said of his team, ranked No. 91 in net starting field position.
Whittingham called U-M's bye week "productive" in multiple respects. For starters, getting healthy − he told Jansen there would've been a number of players who would've been out with injury had Michigan had to play this past week, so the bye's timing was "good in that respect."
He also talked about fine-tuning what Jason Beck's offense focuses on
"We know we just don't do well, and we canned a lot of stuff," he said. "[But] one thing you can't do during a bye week and when you have a couple games that don't go your way, is panic and try to retool everything and overthink things and question everything you do."
That's why there won't be any "major personnel changes" coming in the near future.
It's also why after a week of reflection, for all the problems the Wolverines have had, Whittingham has identified the one major area that, if fixed, he believes will flip its fortunes going forward. Now, it's up to the players to ensure they don't fumble the remaining opportunities.
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: Whittingham: Michigan football would be 'undefeated' without TO woes
