The Michigan Wolverines are on the road for the first time this season to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers (noon on FOX). In this week’s Roundtable, Maize n Brew staff members give their final thoughts on last week’s loss to Iowa, some bold predictions for tomorrow’s game and more!
As we always do in these roundtables, give us some thoughts/takeaways from last week’s game. I’m sure you have plenty this week!
Von: Whatever discipline Kyle Whittingham once had, he surely didn’t bring it with him
from Salt Lake City to Ann Arbor. He must have left that at the Utah football facilities as their AD was forcing his ass out of there (allegedly!).
Zach Libby: That play would only happen against Iowa.
Grace: That’s a tough one to lose because Michigan looked like it was starting to put a lot of stuff together. While I’m disappointed in the outcome, I’m still feeling mostly positive about the team overall.
Andrew: I trust my colleagues to focus on the negatives — which they should after a loss — but allow me to sneak in some of the good. Bryce Underwood accounted for more than 300 total yards of offense and played his best game under his new offensive coordinator (to be clear, the interception was on the receiver). Not to mention, he did this against the best defense in the country and savant coordinator Phil Parker. There is no greater ceiling-raiser on this team than Underwood, and he is getting markedly better week over week.
Scotty: My biggest takeaways from last week are that this team is a lot better than I thought, and these coaches are a lot worse than I thought.
Kellen: I was watching the game at a friend’s place as guests were arriving for a party. I was vacuuming the carpet when the kickoff return happened and I had a bad feeling at that point. After Michigan scored to make it 19-14, my friend said, “Okay, worst case scenario now is that they lose by one.” This loss is your fault, Dyllon. I was upset with the penalties, but at least we had Qdoba and plenty of tequila shots to help numb the loss.
Nick: I found myself really impressed with Michigan’s offensive performance despite it only being 19 points. Iowa’s defenses are always tough, but Bryce Underwood managed to put together his best game in a college uniform and the Wolverines had two receivers go for more than 100 yards. The lack of discipline though is really troublesome. If this game taught me anything, it’s that the Wolverines have the chance to beat anyone on their schedule, but their lack of discipline won’t allow that to happen.
Charles: Michigan played its worst game of the season in a win over Western Michigan, and played its best game of the season in a loss to Iowa. That’s just how football goes sometimes. The Wolverines have to be kicking themselves for completely blowing an opportunity to remain undefeated, but with every loss comes with a lesson. Now, Michigan has to learn from the loss and avoid a similar fate going forward. One loss is not the end of the world so as long as Michigan bounces back at Minnesota and keeps winning. If one loss turns into a losing skid, the season could become derailed. All in all, the Wolverines had a lot of positive takeaways from the loss to Iowa, so they need to channel those (improved pass attack, solid offensive line performance, run game showed some life, defense allowed just 13 points), while fixing the mistakes that cost them the game.
What do you blame the most for the loss to Iowa: penalties, coaching, or something else?
Von: This ultimately falls on the coaching staff. The Wolverines had the ball with just a couple minutes left in the game. Jason Beck should have dialed up a play to let Bryce Underwood throw the ball on 3rd-and-5 instead of handing it off to Savion Hiter and not picking up the first down. Even if the pass falls incomplete, I would have at least appreciated the killer instinct in trying to put the game on ice, while also giving your young quarterback some belief that the coaching staff trusts him and wants him to finish the game right there and then. It was a really bad way to end what was otherwise a great game called by Beck.
Zach Libby: Giving up a kick return touchdown.
Grace: My answer is something else. Honestly, it’s tough when you’ve got Iowa making plays on the ball that the defense has tipped repeatedly. At first I put a lot of weight on the penalty on the final drive, but when it’s all said and done, there were several things that fell just a teeny bit short throughout the game. That kept it close and Iowa was able to win the game.
Andrew: I blame angering the football gods because this amalgamation of errors, miscues and tipped passes was clearly the universe righting the order of things after the Western Michigan game. If one error or bounce of the tipped ball goes the other way, Michigan beats Iowa. Blame does not fit in a nice, tidy box for this one — it is shared between the coaches and the players, and harkens back to their shortcomings in Week 1.
Scotty: The penalties sucked, but I blame the coaching for that, so I’ll say coaching here. I was very encouraged with the performance and I have a lot more confidence in this team than I did before the game. However, I think they’re very poorly coached.
Kellen: I think it comes down to penalties, but that’s ultimately the fault of the coaching staff. As talented as this team is, they are not disciplined at all, and they ran into the opponent that is the best in the country at exploiting that. Hopefully this loss helped Michigan wake up and play smarter.
Nick: I think it’s a combination of both the coaching and penalties, since I see the penalties as a reflection of the coaching. The pre-snap penalties and late hits are so preventable, but unless there’s real accountability for them, there won’t be any sort of improvement in that category. Additionally, it seemed like the coaching and strategy in the game wasn’t conducive to what was going on in the game, especially with the man coverage late in the game and the over-reliance on a run game that clearly wasn’t working. It seemed as if Jason Beck and Jay Hill were over-reliant on the level of talent at their disposal and didn’t think there was a chance for anything bad that could happen.
Charles: The blame is certainly split between a number of things — giving up a kickoff return touchdown, a red zone interception, a failed fourth-down conversion in the red zone, an inability to ice the game away on the last possession, unnecessary penalties, and a questionable defensive play call on the last play. Kyle Whittingham said that if any of those moments went in the Wolverines’ favor, they would have won, and he’s right. It was somewhat of an unlucky loss, but sometimes you have to make your own luck, and Michigan failed to do so. It’s hard to decipher which miscue deserves the most to blame, but I’ll lean towards missed red zone opportunities and penalties. The Wolverines should have scored on at least one of those red zone trips, and the penalties have been an issue all season. Michigan simply has to be better in the fundamentals to take that next step, and doing the little things is what cost them against Iowa.
Let’s shift gears to the Golden Gophers. What worries you most about this Minnesota team?
Von: The Gophers are a watered down version of Iowa. P.J. Fleck preaches taking care of the football, playing tough in the run game on both sides of the ball, and minimizing mistakes at all costs. They also pulled off a pretty big upset on the road last week against Washington, which came into the season with high expectations. I’m sure Minnesota has a bunch of confidence, while it’s a completely different story for the Wolverines right now.
Zach Libby: A blood soaked P.J. Fleck.
Grace: They’ve managed to put some good games together. They held Washington to less than 100 yards rushing and will look to limit Michigan’s run game. Michigan has struggled against the Gophers in the past.
Andrew: Confidence. The Gophers are walking tall after a big win in Seattle and are ready to save their season. P.J. Fleck may be a little unhinged, but this team buys into everything he is selling. And you better believe he is reminding them of the 2024 game where Minnesota gave Michigan everything they could handle.
Scotty: Drake Lindsey is off to a hot start this season. I love what I’ve seen from Michigan’s defense this year and I feel good about the matchup, but Lindsey can play.
Kellen: That win at Washington last week, with kickoff being at 11 p.m. EST, was super impressive. Granted, Washington is not the team that a lot of experts thought it would be, but doing that travel and winning on the road is incredibly admirable. P.J. Fleck has always slightly exceeded expectations at Minnesota, even if he put himself at risk to a parasitic infection with him wiping a player’s blood on himself. It was equal parts epic and stupid, which made it a perfect encapsulation of why we all love college football.
Nick: I don’t know if there’s anything about the team specifically that worries me, but it’s a repeat of last week where I don’t think Minnesota can come out and beat Michigan, rather Michigan will only lose the game if it beats itself. Going on the road for the first time only amplifies that, especially with the Golden Gophers kind of being a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big Ten. It seems like an easy spot for Michigan to sleep walk into the game again, and if that happens, it could result in the Wolverines entering the bye week with a second loss.
Charles: Minnesota isn’t exactly going to blow you away, but it has enough experience and talent to make life difficult for Michigan, and potentially even pull off an upset. TJ Thomas and Darius Taylor make up one of the Big Ten’s most underrated backfields (combined 368 yards, four touchdowns), Drake Lindsey is an experienced quarterback that is accurate and avoids turnovers, and Joey Gerlach has displayed an ability to create takeaways at a high rate (three forced fumbles). If Michigan continues to make the same mistakes it did against Western Michigan and Iowa, then Minnesota will have a chance to stay in the game.
Give us a bold prediction for tomorrow’s game.
Von: Hiter goes for more than 100 yards rushing and scores at least once.
Zach Libby: Little brown jug is kept in Ann Arbor for the 11th straight year.
Grace: Michigan takes an early lead and doesn’t let up.
Andrew: Michigan outrushes Minnesota by over 150 yards.
Scotty: I think Michigan wins by 14+.
Kellen: While Drake Lindsey has been pretty solid all year long, I think Michigan’s secondary bounces back and picks him off twice for his first multi-interception game of the season.
Nick: I think Bryce Underwood is going to pass for more than 250 yards again. I think he’s found his groove a bit over the past two weeks, and Minnesota’s passing defense has been pretty average. Kamario Taylor had a nice game against Minnesota three weeks ago, so I think Underwood can show something this week as well.
Charles: Michigan breaks out of its “dry spell” in the turnover department and creates three takeaways, Bryce Underwood throws for 250+ passing yards in consecutive games for the first time in his career, Jordan Marshall explodes for a season-high 100+ rushing yards, Dom Nichols records the first multi-sack game of his career, and Rod Moore gets his eighth career interception.
What’s the final score and why?
Von (2-2): Michigan 27, Minnesota 20. Get ready for another nail-biter of a game, Michigan fans.
Zach Libby (2-2): I said zero touchdowns last week and was way off. Should have just stuck to my gut. This time I will. Whatever Grace predicts, I’m going with that.
Grace (3-1): 38-7, Michigan. I’m digging my heels in on this one and saying the Wolverines come out strong and never let up. My reason? I’m stubborn as heck and believe this team made progress last week.
Andrew (2-2): Michigan, 27-17. Minnesota only managed 13 rushing yards against Mississippi State, which has far from a formidable front seven. Michigan should be able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, establish the run, and allow their D-line to harass Drake Lindsay. But if the Wolverines cannot cut down on the self-inflicted wounds, it could be another final-second nail-biter.
Scotty (0-2): Michigan wins, 31-13. Last week sucked, but I really do feel like the team is getting better each week and that last week has to be a wake up call for the coaches to fix their mistakes that cost the team a win.
Kellen (2-2): Michigan wins another rock fight, 20-17, as the offense continues to take strides in the right direction. Minnesota is legit, but the pressure is on Michigan after last week’s loss, and pressure makes diamonds sometimes.
Nick (2-2): I think Michigan might have found a little something with its pass attack the last two weeks and should be able to pull away late after a close first half. Give me the Wolverines by a 27-16 final score.
Charles (2-2): I think Michigan comes out with a similar focus and intensity to what we saw against Oklahoma, and the Wolverines get the job done on the road. It’s hard to tell exactly what the identity of this team is because it looks different every single week, but the one time we saw them with their back against the ball, the Wolverines responded with a big-time win. I expect the same at Minnesota. It might be close in the first half and even into the third quarter, but I fully expect Michigan to assert their dominance and eventually come away with an impressive win in Big Ten play. Give me Michigan, 27-18.
