The Michigan Wolverines endured an embarrassing 15-6 loss to the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday, and head coach Kyle Whittingham said the team took “three steps back” after hitting rock bottom in his first season.
“It was very disappointing,” Whittingham said. “I thought we had some good production from a lot of areas last week, but there was nothing productive about this game. It wasn’t just one step back, it was three steps back.”
Michigan was hoping to defeat Michigan State for a fifth season
in a row, pick up a third win in its last four games and secure bowl eligibility in Whittingham’s first year with the program. Instead, the Wolverines put forth a truly pathetic performance.
The Wolverines were incompetent in the loss to Michigan State — compiling four turnovers, finishing with a season-low 192 total yards and going just 2-for-10 on third downs. The run game was pathetic, accounting for 2.1 yards per carry on 26 attempts, and the pass game only produced 138 yards on the night. It doesn’t get much worse than that, as Michigan looked lost all night.
“We couldn’t run or throw it, we turned it over four times, we couldn’t make third-down conversions and we got our quarterback sacked five times,” Whittingham said. “We’ll go back to the drawing board. We have to fix our issues.”
“The whole team is frustrated,” defensive end John Henry Daley added. “We know what we’re doing every single day, so to do all that and then come out on Saturdays and not execute the way we’re supposed to is extremely frustrating.”
Not only does losing to Michigan State for the first time in five years sting because of the in-state rivalry, but it was also a loss to a team that was previously winless in the Big Ten. So the question begs, where do the Wolverines turn now?
“We have some serious issues,” Whittingham said. “I don’t know what else to say. We’re not going to just give up on this season. We still have three games left and we have kids in that locker room that have a lot of pride.”
“We’re definitely not going to give up,” Daley said. “There are going to be rough times but it doesn’t mean what you’re doing is wrong. The setbacks are frustrating and hurt, especially rivalry games, but we’re still going to show up every day.”
Michigan will attempt to pick itself up off the mat and find a way to salvage the season against three marquee opponents the next three weeks in Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State. However, that’s hard to imagine with just how poorly the Wolverines have played.
“It falls on me so we’ll be back at work tomorrow,” Whittingham said. “It doesn’t get any easier. We have three tough games in a row. It’s very disappointing. I’m as disappointed and frustrated as I’ve ever been as a head coach tonight.”
Whether it be this year or next, Whittingham remains confident Michigan will turn things around.
“It’s been a big challenge,” Whittingham said. “I’m very confident that we will get things fixed. I can’t say that we’re going to have it fixed overnight, but I promise you, we’ll eventually get this thing right. I promise you that.”
Whittingham’s first season has been a roller coaster, but the loss to Michigan State certainly feels like rock bottom. There’s no doubt Michigan is heading in the wrong direction, taking significant steps back under this coaching staff.
