MINNEAPOLIS − Kyle Whittingham finished his postgame speech to his team in the visiting locker room, then strolled to the adjacent press conference alcove deep inside Huntington Bank Stadium, where he muttered under his breath what essentially everybody in the room was already thinking: "That wasn't pretty."
Michigan football suffered an ugly 20-14 loss to Minnesota in a game that, frankly, wasn't that close. Both of the No. 24 Wolverines' touchdowns in the first half came because of the defense. One, literally so, when Nathaniel Staehling picked off a Drake Lindsey pass and ran it back 79 yards for the score.
The other came after Troy Bowles forced an errant Lindsey pass on a blitz, with defensive back Smith Snowden catching it and making it to
the Minnesota 34 to set up a short field. Outside of those two plays, there was next to nothing for maize and blue rooters to applaud.
The offense didn't have a drive of more than 37 yards, but rack up three turnovers – marking the fourth time in five games the Wolverines finished with a turnover deficit. Likewise, Michigan (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) committed more penalties than Minnesota (4-1, 2-0), the fifth time – in five games – the Wolverines have done so.
Add it all up, and Whittingham finds himself at a crossroads he said he's rarely faced.
"I've been in this profession 40-plus years and this is maybe the biggest challenge I've had," Whittingham said with a sigh. "Right now, we have a lot of answers that we've got to come up with because we have so many deficiencies."
Michigan is now 0-2 in Big Ten play for just the third time in 60 seasons, and the first time since 2014. That season was the last with Brady Hoke at U-M's helm, as well as the last time (excluding the shortened 202 campaign) the Wolverines didn't reach a bowl game.
Michigan had just 180 yards of offense Saturday, averaging 3.7 yards per play – numbers similar to its 2014 loss of the Little Brown Jug, though that 30-14 loss was in Ann Arbor.
For a program that's searching for answers, the offense, without question, is the most concerning. This season marks Michigan's first this century with a 100-yard rusher through Week 5. Heck, on Saturday, Michigan didn't have 100 yards as a team, gaining just 79 yards on the ground on 28 carries – without a single rush of at least 10 yards by a running back.
That leaves the Wolverines looking at anything and everything heading into their bye week.
"This wasn't what I envisioned, I can tell you that," Whittingham said. "There's a disconnect. I keep going back to that word. There's something that is not ... allowing us to function at our best. We're just, we're not hitting on all cylinders.
"We've got to again figure out what is going haywire on offense ... Is it coaching? Personnel? I mean, what is it? Not enough film study? I don't know. We'll just continue to figure it out."
At this point, no theory is too wild, no suggestion too bold. The Wolverines may need to look at changing up their play-calling duties; offensive coordinator Jason Beck had success in the Mountain West and Big 12 but is scheming in the Big Ten for the first time.
Bryce Underwood is another hot-button topic. One week after throwing for a career-high 276 yards, the sophomore QB looked entirely lost against Minnesota, completing just 10 of 21 passes for 101 yards and throwing two back-breaking interceptions in the second half on back-to-back throws.
One came on an overthrow in which, Underwood said postgame, he didn't see the corner creeping in on JJ Buchanan. He also didn't see Andrew Marsh wide open up the sideline with nothing but green grass between himself and the maroon end zone.
Whittingham said the team kept Underwood in, rather than turning it over to true freshman Tommy Carr, because he still felt "it gave us the best chance to win."
Will that still be the case in two weeks against Penn State in Ann Arbor?
"I'll sit down with the entire offense and get everybody's input and everybody's perspective," Whittingham said. "There's nobody more frustrated than Coach Beck. His track record is outstanding as an offensive coordinator, and so we might have to make some tough decisions here.
"Through this portion of the season, it's unacceptable, the results are unacceptable right now. ... I'm not pointing fingers – certainly not pointing fingers at the players – but something has got to be resolved."
The defense has largely played well, but it's not impenetrable, especially not when Michigan has as many turnovers (three) as plays run in the first 16:15 of a half, as it did after the break Saturday. One of those miscues came from the normally trusted Marsh, as he muffed a punt return for the second time in five games.
Even with the sloppy penalties, the inexplicable turnovers, the poor decisions and the general malaise hanging over the team, Jordan Marshall's words hung in the air Saturday, warning of a potential bigger problem.
"We have to be more connected outside of the building, in the building, it has to all come together, [because] we're playing as parts right now," Marshall said. "I don't know how many guys or if we have everyone bought in, and I think that's where we have to make sure.
"Like coach Whitt just said, it can go two ways. It can go really, really bad, or we can turn this thing around. ... You get stronger from this moment, or you get weaker."
The Wolverines have two weeks to get healthy before the Nittany Lions arrive at the Big House.
Not just physically, but mentally – Whittingham said the entire team is "soul-searching," and Marshall said it's "still hard to grasp" how the group let one loss turn into a second.
But Marshall added that he still trusts the staff because of its history of success.
Right now, it's hard for the fans to do the same.
"They've got to be disappointed – they should be," Whittingham said. "They deserve a better product than what they've had the last couple weeks."
Make "Hail Yes!" your go-to Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live/on demand on YouTube.
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.
Next up: Nittany Lions
Matchup: Michigan (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) vs. Penn State (3-2, 0-2).
Kickoff: Time TBA, Saturday, Oct. 17; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.
TV/radio: TV TBA; WCSX-FM (94.7).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football lost as Kyle Whittingham faces 'biggest challenge' as coach
