ANN ARBOR — Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham, following the Wolverines’ 15-6 loss to Michigan State, said he will wait until after the season to evaluate everything.
That feels like stalling.
There are three regular-season games left, and bowl eligibility, at this point for the Wolverines (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten), seems like a stretch considering those final games are at Oregon, at home against unbeaten UCLA and the regular-season finale at Ohio State. Maybe something will change for Michigan’s offense, but the sample size of nine games seems large enough to see it will be a struggle to fix the layers of offensive issues.
Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham during the fourth quarter of a game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, at Michigan Stadium, in Ann Arbor, November 7, 2026.
Michigan is averaging 302.6 yards per game, including 128.7 yards rushing. They Wolverines had a season-low 54 rushing yards against Michigan State. And Michigan, which had four turnovers against the Spartans, is a brutal minus-eight in turnover margin. This does not make for winning football.
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For the second time in three games, the Wolverines scored a mere six points. They lost to Indiana, 13-6, in overtime. In an effort to help the offense, offensive coordinator Jason Beck, the subject of “Fire Beck” signs last week at Rutgers and also during a quick snippet on the Michigan Stadium videoboard, called the second half from the field.
Whittingham said he is not making a change at coordinator right now.
“At some point you gotta have results,” Whittingham said. “It’s a result-driven business, and it’s a bottom-line business. I’ll evaluate everything after the season and determine what the best course of action is, but not right here, right now.”
He also said after the loss at Minnesota in early October he would evaluate things and tough decisions would be made. It’s certainly understandable that panic is not in order so early in the season, but at this stage, it’s not panic, it’s reality. And it’s not pretty.
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“We’re working on answers,” Whittingham said. “We thought we had a big step forward last week (in a 28-21 win at Rutgers). I know we did. We had (427) yards and should have had 34 points. We missed a couple of field goals that were makeable. The throwing game was the best it’s been all year. We had a situation where we had really thought, hey, we’re getting some consistency, and we’re getting some production.
“Then we show up (against Michigan State) and lay a goose egg.”
There has been plenty of stop-start with this offense, and there has never been consistency. Sure, there have been some productive moments, like the second half against Penn State and the 266 passing yards and error-free football at Rutgers. But it feels like a bit of smoke and mirrors.
Some of that is on the play of the offensive line, which has had its share of injuries, but let’s be clear: Michigan State has been riddled with them all season. The offensive line has had five starting combinations and against MSU, starting right guard Brady Norton was replaced by Avery Gach in the second half, and then starting right tackle Blake Frazier left the game with an injury and was replaced by Marky Walbridge. Then, Evan Link moved from right tackle and Andrew Babalola came in at left tackle.
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Bottom line: MSU coach Pat Fitzgerald had the Spartans better prepared for this game.
“The film will tell, but it certainly looked that way at times,” Whittingham said of MSU wanting the win more. “It certainly looked that way. That’s my fault for not getting our guys in the right frame of mind. We never downplayed the game, and we never said this game’s not important to us. It’s really important. Very important. They were ready to play tonight. We got their best shot. They played well enough to win.”
Whittingham called the loss the most disappointing and frustrating outcome he has endured. But he believes he can turn things around.
“It’s been a big challenge,” he said. “Very confident we can get things fixed. Now, not right away maybe. I can’t say that we’re gonna have it overnight or in the next couple days, but I promise you eventually we’ll get this thing right. I can promise you that.
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“Right now, we’re just trying to figure out the best solutions for where we are at this point in time and for these last three games.”
New kicker for Michigan
While Michigan State kicker Liam Boyd was 5 of 5 on field goals and scored all of the Spartans’ points, Michigan’s one attempt bounced off the left upright on a 26-yard attempt.
Michigan opened the competition during the week after Trey Butkowski, 6 of 10 this season, missed two attempts at Rutgers. He made two of his last six attempts. Jacob Baggett won the job for the MSU game. Michigan has now missed five kicks in the last three games.
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“He came out ahead in the field-goal percentage in that competition (last week),” Whittingham said. “(The miss) was a little bit of a downer, but you can’t blame the whole game on that. It would have been nice to have made that.”
No quit from the team
Edge rusher John Henry Daley, who had two sacks against Michigan State and six for the season, said the team will not throw in the towel despite the team’s record and performance.
“We work our butts off every single day,” Daley said. “People talk about giving up or focusing, how do you lock in for the rest of the season? You’re talking to a bunch of high-level competitors. I don’t think anybody wants to get their butt kicked. All of us want to go out there and play to the best of our abilities. We’re representing ourselves, our family, and the university, and so, man, we go in there every single day dialed in and doing our best. We watch film. We work out. We pay attention to detail. We’re putting in the extra hours. We’re doing the extra things. We need to play up to the standard, and when you prepare day in and day out, then you’re confident instead of timid.”
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan’s offense struggles again: ‘At some point you gotta have results’
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
