Two things can be true.
Michigan football can be relieved – if not happy – about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat on its second chance at a 47-yard Hail Mary between Bryce Underwood and JJ Buchanan to steal a 13-12 victory from Western Michigan.
And yet, what happened in Kyle Whittingham's debut as U-M coach was an incredibly concerning performance that belied everything the coaches and players said was happening during practice this fall.
What everyone will remember is the ending. The throw. The confusion. The Big Ten's explanation – convoluted though it was, more than an hour after the end of the game – that the first Hail Mary from Underwood, out the back of the end zone, was touched
by a formerly out-of bounds defender (Micah Davis, himself a former Wolverine) with 1 second remaining, no matter what the live broadcast, or the replays, showed.
But let's not let that overshadow the first 59:59 (or 60 minutes, depending on which clock you believe) in coming to a simple conclusion: The Wolverines were simply outplayed by the Broncos.
Don't believe me? Let's take a look at the stats.
One team at the Big House had an edge in first downs, 16-12. One team had an edge in rushing yards, 138-106. One team had an edge in turnovers, 3-0. One team committed fewer penalties: five for 40 yards, while the other had nine for 80 yards. One team possessed the ball for more than twice as long (40:08) as its opponent (19:52).
That team, of course, hails from the Mid-American Conference, and just missed becoming the second MAC team to beat U-M in more than 50 years. Likewise, the Wolverines know they were extremely fortunate to not have questions about Toledo (the first MAC team, back in 2008) and Appalachian State (an FCS-level victor at Michigan Stadium, back 2007) in Saturday's media availabilities.
"There was not a lot of hooting and hollering in the locker room," Whittingham said after the game. "In fact, there was none. We understand we’ve got a lot of work to do."
That work starts on offense. Michigan opened with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. It ended with a miracle. In between, however, was abject disaster. The other eight drives – none of which went more than 30 yards, with only one lasting more than five plays – resulted in two turnovers and six punts.
The defense, despite the low score, didn't fare much better. The Wolverines struggles were summed up by a 20-play, 71-yard drive that melted 13:40 off the clock and allowed WMU to take a 9-7 lead with 10:25 left in the final frame.
The ending may have soothed some bad feelings – with a memorable rushing of the field from U-M fans – but there certainly weren't good thoughts shared with the media.
"Sick to my stomach is the way I would explain the feeling of that game," said edge-rusher Dom Nichols, who had 2½ tackles for loss and 1½ sacks. "It should have never came down to that. Obviously, I'm glad we came out one and zero, but we got some stuff to fix. ... That [postgame celebration]wasn't a moment we really wanted to be living in, to be honest. I mean, it's Western Michigan."
The specialists weren't particularly special, either: one kickoff return for 18 yards and muffing one of two punts. That belonged to star receiver Andrew Marsh – the second time in as many season openers the sophomore has fumbled a ball on special teams.
But really, the problem started (and almost ended) with the offense.
The majority of Whittingham's staff came with him from Utah, a program dominant on the ground last season: No. 1 in the nation in yards per carry (6.0) and No. 2 in yards per game (266.3) and rushing touchdowns (41).
Saturday against WMU showed little resemblance to that offense: U-M averaged a paltry 3.3 yards per carry with just three rushes that picked up 10 yards or more.
The lack of a passing game – the lack of development shown by Underwood – is equally concerning.
Prior to the final 35 seconds that pushed his stat line from flat to barely beating, the sophomore completed 10 of 16 passes for 95 yards with a pick. Frankly, it was a horrific interception in the final minute of the first half, too; it should've been a pick-six, but defensive back Dillon Moore tapped the sideline after 4 yards, before he ran 26 yards unabated toward the end zone.
That followed an earlier pick negated after a different defensive back had his toe on the sideline when he deflected it. On yet another instance, Underwood stared down JJ Buchanan (who caught the winning Hail Mary as part of a fabulous debut featuring six catches for 126 yards) and Micah Davis jumped the route only to have the pass hit him in his chest.
Underwood missed on deep balls – a familiar issue from last season – and still struggled on the short passes, underthrowing a third-down dumpoff to freshman running back Savion Hiter that ended a possession.
Whittingham shouldered the blame, saying it wasn't on Underwood but rather himself, and added he needed to watch the tape.
But really? Seeing it unfold live just reinforced the offense's performance as a worst-case scenario.
"The reality is, we have got a lot to fix," Whittingham said. "We didn't play the run well on defense; we didn't run the ball well on offense; we lost the turnover margin, 3-0; we didn't make enough first downs; and you know all this was squarely on my shoulders. There's no doubt about that, and I got to do a better job preparing this football team.
"The most positive thing of all, obviously, is 1-0. But we know we're not going to win a lot of ballgames this year if we don't fix some [things] and fix them right away."
"Right away" is right – if Michigan plays anywhere close to this next week when Oklahoma – which opened the season at No. 9 in the coaches' poll before plastering UTEP 51-0 on Friday – comes to town, it won't be walking out of the Big House with a sheepish grin on its face.
[ MUST WATCH: Make "Hail Yes!" your go-to Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live 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.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Don't let Michigan football victory over WMU hide massive issues
