At one point, Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham joked the media should make a prop bet every week for how early in the press conference he talks about turnovers.
At another, when a reporter suggested he'd been metaphorically banging the table in recent weeks about the importance of turnovers, he did so literally, hitting the lectern twice with his balled up right fist. U-M won the turnover battle for the second time in six games when it generated three takeaways (two interceptions and a forced fumble) in its 21-18 victory over Penn State, all three of which led directly to Michigan's trio of touchdowns.
The test for Michigan (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) only gets tougher against No. 6 Indiana (6-1, 3-1), which Whittingham marveled at as he previewed
the Week 8 matchup on Monday, Oct. 19 at Schembechler Hall.
"They've got an amazing stat ... for 31 straight games, they have not lost the turnover margin − 31 straight games," Whittingham said. "It's longest streak in 30 years, from what I understand. And so, you know, you've heard me talk ad nauseum about the turnover margin, and you talk about why they've won more games over the last two and a half years than anyone in the country. That's a big reason right there."
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It's no secret Michigan's offense has been struggling and in recent weeks. Outside of Tommy Carr's spark in the second half against the Nittany Lions, the only thing keeping it alive has been a defense that's finally started forcing turnovers.
Michigan has scored five touchdowns the past eight quarters. One came on a pick-six. Three others came after U-M's defense forced a turnover and set up the offense with a short field (two of which started inside the red zone). The last came after Chris Bracy's interception in the second half on Saturday, the only time in the past two games Michigan has crossed midfield and ended a drive with points during that span.
With Indiana ranked No. 4 in scoring defense (12.9 points per game), run defense (75.6 yards per game) and tied for No. 40 in the nation with a plus-three turnover margin, U-M finding a way to set its offense up for success is all the more imperative.
"Magnifies all those things, absolutely," Whittingham said. "They do not beat themselves. They they do a great job of eliminating bad football and playing solid across the board."
Offensive line takes a step
Among the most positive signs this past week was an offensive line that seemingly took a notable step.
The group allowed just one pressure on 18 pass snaps and helped pave the way for a season-high 211 rushing yards at an efficient clip of 6 yards per carry. It even opened holes for Bryson Kuzdzal to rip off a 43-yard touchdown run and Savion Hiter to gallop for a gain of 41 − each of which was the longest of their careers and the first two carries of more than 17 yards by a running back in any game this season.
"The offensive line played their best football in the second half of that game of the whole season, there was no question about that," Whittingham said of what he saw on film. "They were coming off the ball. Their combinations were outstanding ... they came out with a purpose in that second half."
It's all the more impressive considering the unit was missing both of its starters on the right side of the ball, as Avery Gach filled in at guard for Brady Norton and Blake Frazier continued his work on that side of the formation at tackle as he has the past four games in place of Andrew Sprague.
Whittingham said the team will find out if it's able to get anybody back this week, but said it will need to make a decision on right guard even if Norton is available, given that Gach graded out well. Elsewhere, Andrew Babalola dressed for the first time in his career, but with only one week of practice under his belt, the staff felt he wasn't quite ready for game reps.
Down the line, if he continues to progress, there's a question of moving him to a tackle spot and bumping Evan Link back to left guard (he's started the past four weeks at left tackle) in place of Nathan Efobi.
"We hope so, that gives a little more flexibility for us," Whittingham said of the possibility. "Going forward, we're going to try to start integrating him and, you know, whatever is the best situation. Left tackle is where he he really feels most comfortable, and so we'll see."
Bryce Underwood response
Bryce Underwood didn't sulk when he was pulled from the game at halftime.
He was seen dapping Tommy Carr up on the sideline, interacting with teammates and running on to the field to chest-bump the freshman after his 12-yard touchdown rush that put Michigan up 10 with less than three minutes to play.
The staff understands how difficult being pulled was for Underwood, as it would be for anybody, but Whittingham went out of his way to praise the response by someone who was voted a team captain this offseason.
"I'm a fan of Bryce Underwood," Whittingham said. "He's a great person. He's got a great personality. You know, he's going to go far in life ... he handled that as well as he possibly could have and as well as I've ever seen a starter that got replaced handle it. He was supporting Tommy. He was thrilled when Tommy scored.
"He was helping him on the sideline, talking through things that he saw on the previous possession, and so I don't think there's a chance or a way that he could have handled it any better than he did. Very pleased, very professional on his part, too."
CBS reported during the game that Underwood spent time over the bye week in California with Jordan Palmer, his personal quarterbacks coach, which led to a number of theories running online. U-M's head coach cleared the air, pointing out that the entire team had the weekend off during the bye week − a common practice across the sport for players to see their families, get healthy, rest or simply have a few days to themselves in the middle of what is a months-long grind.
Whittingham stood by his sophomore who used the time to put in more work and get a second opinion from someone who worked with him throughout the offseason.
"We never have optional practices and so we did practice or had meetings Monday through Thursday," Whittingham said. "Then after Thursday, the players were free to do what they needed to do Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And my understanding, Bryce went down to California and worked with a personal trainer ... he wasn't just on vacation.
"He went down there and was working his tail off those three days."
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 has major ball-security test against Indiana
