Saturday was supposed to be a get-right game for Michigan football, with the struggling offense going up against the worst defense in the Big Ten. Rutgers has limped out to a 2-5 record this season going into Saturday's game, and its only two wins came against Howard and a Maryland team that ended up firing its head coach as a result.
And despite the Wolverines jumping out to a 14-3 lead early, they had to hang on for dear life to win 28-21, with the game tied at 21 late in the fourth quarter.
After the game, head coach Kyle Whittingham wouldn't go so far as to say freshman Tommy Carr, who is dealing with flu symptoms, saved the season, but he was pleased with what he did in the game in particular.
"I wouldn't be that dramatic," Whittingham said.
"I felt he took a big step forward this week, without a doubt. Over 80% completion percentage. 266 throwing. His legs came up with some big runs for us. A couple touchdowns, 50-something yards rushing. Took care of the football, no turnovers. Made a bunch of first downs, possessed the ball for nearly 40 minutes. So, yeah, he was instrumental in all that good stuff happening."
Ultimately, it ended up being a tough game, yet another in the annals of Michigan's one-score games either way. All three losses were by one score, and every win but the Week 3 romp over UTEP was a one-score game.
Whittingham isn't really sure why the team continues to play close games, but this one was a game where the defense had both big plays and ceded some big plays.
"It would have been nice if it were easier. But we've had one game all year that has not been a one-score game," Whittingham said. "So, more of the same. I don't have a great answer. We really out-statistic'd them heavily. They only snapped it 38 times. Only completed three balls in the whole game, although they were big ones. We got big play on defense. That's what we get in the games, is the big plays against us. Which, typically, our defense has been pretty good this year versus the big play. But, offensively, we had a lot of production. Over 400 yards. A lot of first downs. Very good third down -- 75% on third down. Ran the ball decent, not great, decent. 160 or thereabouts. But, again, we didn't turn it over.
"And, you know, one thing that reared its head when we had a game was the penalties. That bogged a bunch of drives down for us. And extended a bunch of drives for them. PIs, defense holding and roughing the passer. We had another game with our overall quota of penalties."
It wouldn't have been as tight but for two missed field goals by kicker Trey Butkowski. He's now made two of his last six attempts, having missed two on Saturday and two against Indiana.
Whittingham says it might be time to reopen the kicker competition given that the team hasn't been able to count on him the past two weeks.
"Well, you know, the one was fairly tough," Whittingham said. "It was just around 50 yards, 48 yards with the wind. The wind was a factor down there. It wasn't, you know, gale storm, but it had an impact on the kicks.
"Short one was disappointing. You know, that's something we need to make, and he needs to make. He knows that. And that was a big miss at the time. But he's our guy. Whether we open up the competition this week, we may do that. We have a couple other kickers in the program that are pretty good. So we'll see how we handle that going forward. But, yeah, we did miss a couple kicks, just like last week."
With the win, Michigan improves to 5-3 on the season and will host an equally struggling Michigan State team at The Big House next Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham reacts to Michigan's 28-21 win over Rutgers
