Kyle Whittingham's teams at Utah were known, primarily, for two consistent traits: physicality and discipline.
Michigan football under Whittingham, so far, has been decently physical. Discipline, however ... well, it has been a problem through two weeks in Ann Arbor.
The good news for the Wolverines – it hasn't cost them. No. 19 U-M (2-0) heads into its third game, against UTEP (1-1) on Saturday, Sept. 19 (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) looking for the program's first perfect nonconference run since winning the College Football Playoff championship in 2023.
That doesn't mean Whittingham doesn't recognize it as a problem.
“It’s a process and we’ve got to get that corrected,”
Whittingham said Monday at his weekly press conference. “That’ll cost us somewhere down the line. Players have got to understand there’s consequences with penalties.”
After two weeks, Michigan ranks No. 127 (out of 138 teams nationally) in penalty yards per game (85) and No. 129 in terms of total penalties (20). Only two Power Four teams – Tennessee (21) and Syracuse (last in the country with 27) have committed more penalties.
In beating Oklahoma, Michigan was flagged 11 times for a total of 90 yards, bringing the Wolverines to 170 yards of penalties – the most for the program this decade over the first two games. Against the Sooners, they came on every unit, from illegal formations, false start and holding on the offense, to running into the kicker on special teams, to facemasks, illegal blocks and late hits on the defense.
It's the last one, however − the personal foul for a late hit − that had Whittingham fired up Wednesday.
“Every penalty is a teaching moment,” Whittingham said. “You got to address it. There were some ignorant, thoughtless penalties. That’s what you really want to avoid is the ones that, ‘Why did you do that?’”
“We’re never going to be penalty-free, but if we cut them in half – that’s about what we need to do is, if you’re in the 35-50 yards a game range, that’s acceptable. If you’re playing hard, there’s going to be some penalties. But that would be something that right out of the gate needs to [be fixed].”
Defensive honors
John Henry Daley was a second-team All-American last season at Utah before suffering a significant Achilles injury last November. Now with the Wolverines, he appears already on his way to another standout season.
Daley was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for putting up eight tackles (including three for loss) and a sack against Oklahoma. His first stellar play came on the first drive, when he spun inside and dropped quarterback John Mateer for a 9-yard loss.
He then added TFLs on the next drive in the first quarter and late in the second quarter, two drives that ended with punts. His final TFL came on the first play of the fourth quarter, when OU was in U-M territory. The Wolverines wound up holding the Sonners to a field goal.
"I think I'm still getting off the rust a little bit, but I'm just so grateful to be out there to put on the uniform with this fan base and with my teammates and be able to come out there and make some plays and help us win games," he said after the game. So feeling a lot of gratitude. I'm working my rear end off every single day to make sure that I can be the best version of myself to help our team win games."
Getting Jordan Marshall going
For the first time in three years at U-M, Jordan Marshall opened a season as the Wolverines' staring running back.
So far, the returns have been less than expected. Marshall has averaged 3.5 yards on his 22 carries, with one touchdown (which came from just 1 yard out). He has just one rush of at least 10 yards this season and is averaging 2.09 yards after contact, barely more than half last season's average of 3.93.
He's still forcing missed tackles – four per game after averaging three last season – but it hasn't translated to yardage.
Then again, it took a while for him to get going last season, too. He had fewer than 70 yards in five of his first six games before ripping off 110 or more in his final four full games. Whittingham knows what Marshall is capable of and expects he will be back at peak form sooner than later.
"Yeah, hasn't gotten on track quite yet," Whittingham said. "But Jordan's a great leader, and he's RB1. I expect as the season goes on, he'll start to become more productive. And you know, when you look at last year's tapes, he becomes more productive as the game wears on, typically, and the more carries he gets. And so, we've got to find a way to do a little better job of getting him on track.
"But Jordan is the lead guy, and we need to try to get him in a little more of a groove than we've been able to do the first two weeks."
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: Michigan football still honing Kyle Whittingham staple trait: Discipline
