After Saturday’s frustrating loss to Iowa, head coach Kyle Whittingham made clear one of the key areas for improvement on the Inside Michigan Football radio show
.“We got to take the ball away at a higher rate, much higher rate than we are,” Whittingham told host Jon Jansen.
Whittingham noted that defensive coordinator Jay Hill has practiced turnovers the same way his entire career, and while they can be volatile, consistently losing the turnover battle can derail your season. Against the Hawkeyes,
the Wolverines lost 1-0.
“Probably the most disappointing thing in the game, for me, was — or one of the most disappointing things was our inability to take the ball away,” Whittingham said. “… We need to do a better job getting the ball to the offense in short-field situations.
“We’ve done a lot of good things on defense, don’t get me wrong. But that’s not one of them. That’s something that we need to have change.”
One of Whittingham’s favorite parts of this defense has been its tackling. Whether it be linebackers like Troy Bowles and Nathaniel Staehling, or this front, which has been stout against the run, that is key for maintaining an elite unit.
“I think we’ve been in single-digit missed tackles three of our first four games, which, that’s the benchmark there,” Whittingham said. “If you can be less than 10 in missed tackles, you’re tackling very efficiently.”
Offensively, it looked like the most comfortable Bryce Underwood has been in this offense. It seems like we say that every week, and his 17 completions on 28 attempts for 276 yards and two touchdowns bodes well for his development.
“I thought we played our best game offensively,” Whittingham said.
Of course, that red zone interception cost Michigan big time. However, particularly on the run, Underwood is on the right track.
“Bryce has an ability to be very accurate on the move and on the run, and he’s doing a better job of keeping his eyes downfield when he is on the move,” Whittingham said.
Whittingham also provided a couple of key injury updates. Blake Frazier and John Henry Daley each missed time on Saturday. He talked about Marky Walbridge as a possible Frazier replacement (if needed), or they could slide Brady Norton to tackle and rotate in another interior lineman.
Meanwhile, it was somewhat positive news on Daley.
“Yeah, he’s doing OK,” Whittingham said. “I saw him in the facility [Monday]. He’s walking, which is a positive, without a boot, without crutches. But we’ll have to see, as the week progresses, how much soreness we can get out of that injury and get him back on the field.”
Running backs coach Tony Alford joined Jansen later on, and his room has also steadily improved. Jordan Marshall’s 11 carries for 59 yards and Savion Hiter’s 14 carries for 53 yards on Saturday were encouraging — especially with offensive line shuffling — though it has still been a tricky start for the former, who has yet to surpass 60 rushing yards in a game this season.
Alford does not seem worried.
“I think everything’s a work in progress, and we all are guilty of wanting instantaneous results, and this process, we talked about that this morning, actually. It’s a process, and the big plays are gonna come,” he said.
Marshall admitted it has been a frustrating campaign, but also preached a team mentality.
“I just remind myself, ‘This is helping the team.’ Four yards, four yards, four yards, me, Savion, Kuz (Bryson Kuzdzal), even Bryce, one of us is gonna break one in the run game, and I don’t know who it’s gonna be,” Marshall said.
