The Michigan Wolverines are 3-1 after a brutal loss to Iowa over the weekend. Things don’t get much easier, as they will now hit the road for the first time this season to take on Minnesota (noon on FOX).
Head coach Kyle Whittingham met with the media on Monday morning for his weekly press conference to preview this week’s game. Here are some key things he had to say:
Whittingham on the final play of the game
At the start of his press conference, Whittingham was asked about Michigan’s defensive alignment on the final play of the game over
the weekend. Only two defensive backs were near the end zone at the time the ball was snapped, while five defenders were at or near the line of scrimmage, while the rest of the players were within 5-7 yards of the line of scrimmage.
When asked about the play, Whittingham said: “Jay Hill calls the defense and felt that — based on what he was expecting and what we’re best at, he thought that was the best structure to be in, so that’s the best answer I can give you right now.”
Whittingham continued by saying there were two options to choose from — “play in coverage or bring it all.” The Wolverines opted for the latter, ultimately resulting in a last-second upset to the Hawkeyes.
On the penalties stacking up
It’s been talked about since Week 1, but the Wolverines are playing incredibly undisciplined football right now, resulting in an absurd amount of penalties being called through four games. Michigan has been called for 32 penalties so far this year, which is tied for 109th in the country. The Wolverines are also 113th in the country in penalty yards (289). This all comes after they were penalized eight times for 75 yards vs Iowa on Saturday.
Whittingham was asked about the issue with penalties once again, and while he said it’s a concern, he’s also not completely freaking out about it.
“It’s not completely ridiculously over the top, but we have way too many penalties, we understand that,” Whittingham said. “And so it’s a work in progress and that some of the penalties are the cost of doing business, you’re never gonna be penalty free. But if we can get it down to 50 (yards) or less a week, that’s probably the ballpark (we want to be in). … So entirely too many and we just gotta do a better job coaching, do a better job of heightening the players’ awareness to thoughtless penalties, the penalties that could very easily have been avoided.”
Things that disappointed Whittingham the most vs Iowa
While he didn’t say who was to fully blame for the turnover, Whittingham said the interception thrown by Bryce Underwood was a miscommunication between him and wide receiver Andrew Marsh. Losing the turnover battle again was one of the bigger disappointments of the game, per Whittingham, while also mentioning the kick return touchdown, as well as the two-minute and four-minute offense late in the game.
As it pertains to that last thought, former Maize n Brew Site Manager Anthony Broome asked Whittingham if there was any thought, looking back at the film, that they should have put the ball in Underwood’s hands to try and ice the game.
“Sure, that third down especially,” Whittingham said. “The third down could have gone either way, and as soon as you throw it and it’s incomplete, (Iowa) saved the timeout and everyone’s saying, ‘Why did you not run the ball and make them burn their last time out?’ So there’s arguments from both sides, but the bottom line is we need to do a better job of putting games away when we have control of them.”
Quick hitters
- Continuing with the theme of penalties, the Wolverines have been flagged for illegal formations on offense on several occasions this year so far. Whittingham said they need to do a better job coaching that Monday through Friday so these mistakes aren’t being made on Saturdays.
- Manuel Beigel, Michigan’s “rhino” offensive lineman so far this year, missed the Iowa game due to injury. Thankfully, Whittingham said he should be back at practice on Monday. Whititngham also called Avery Gach an “overall net positive” filling in at the rhino position.
- Additionally, Andrew Babalola is expected to return to practice next week during Michigan’s bye.
- Final injury update today: Michigan is “on the way” to getting clarity regarding Andrew Sprague’s injury. There are one or two more things that need to be evaluated, per Whittingham, but the hope is that they program will know more about his status in the near future.
- For more specifics on the injury updates, check out Nick Durand’s article here.
- While he didn’t say who was to fully blame for the turnover, Whittingham said the interception thrown by Bryce Underwood was a miscommunication between him and wide receiver Andrew Marsh. Whittingham said losing the turnover battle again was one of the bigger disappointments of the game, along with the kick return touchdown, as well as the two-minute and four-minute offense late in the game.
- When asked to describe the first month of the season, Whittingham said he feels like they’re 0-4, even though they’re 3-1. “Closely-contested games, so it’s been an emotional roller coaster in a way.” Read more on that here from our own Charles Post.
- Minnesota is “playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of passion, a lot of energy,” after its big win over the weekend at Washington, Whittingham said.
- When asked about the 4th-and-1 play where Underwood leapt over the offensive line to try and pick up the first down, Whittingham said both he and coordinator Jason Beck didn’t like the call, and that Beck readily admits that. “It’s not like on the goal line where if you break the plane, it’s over and you get a touchdown. If you break the plane, but then you pull it back because you’re not down yet — it’s a whole different structure there.” Whittingham also said the coaches have to be better in that situation and there are “plenty of things we as coaches have to work on.”
- Finally, Whittingham said the 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on defensive back Zeke Berry was “unnecessary, that’s for sure,” but also that “it wasn’t ridiculously flagrant and out of line. … it wasn’t just completely heinous, but something that could have been avoided. Zeke feels badly about it, and we’ll get it corrected.” Whittingham also noted they’ve been called for eight personal foul penalties in four games and that needs to improve as well.
