Whittingham Points to ‘Disconnect” Following Michigan Loss to Minnesota

Now Kyle Whittingham has lost a rivalry game at Michigan.

Minnesota toppled Michigan 20-14 on Saturday in Minneapolis, collecting its first win at home over the Wolverines since 1977, and its first win in the series since 2014.

But this one hurt even more for Michigan because it was the 100th meeting for the famed Little Brown Jug – college football’s oldest trophy – which dates back to 1903.

Michigan’s Offense Dominated by the Golden Gophers

Michigan (3-2) not only lost the game, but it was beaten in every major statistical category, including being dominated in time of possession 37:36 to 22:24.

Minnesota also won the rushing battle (126-79), the passing war (136-101), the pivotal turnover ratio (3-2) and first downs (17-11) – a category Whittingham considers paramount along with points scored.

And maybe most importantly next to the final score, Minnesota (4-1) whooped Michigan’s offensive line, bottling up rushing lanes and sacking sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood three times.

Whittingham said the week of practice was good, but it didn’t translate to the game.

“We have not had a week where we said that was a horrible week of practice,” Whittingham said. “But there is a disconnect. There is something going on from Monday through Friday to what’s going on Saturday.”

Michigan held a 14-7 halftime lead but that should really be credited to Nathaniel Staehling, who picked off Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey with 2:48 left in the first half and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown.

Michigan also scored on a 5-yard touchdown run by Jordan Marshall in the second quarter – its only points scored on offense the entire game.

Whittingham admitted after the game the offense appears to be in dire straits.

“It’s been completely ineffective most of the time, not 100 percent of the time,” Whittingham said. “We still are so far away from where we need to be on that side of the ball. We are going to look at it from all angles.”

Whittingham also added he can quite figure out why Michigan’s offense has been so dismal this season. The Wolverines have only scored 115 points through five games and not all of them were courtesy of the offense.

“I’ve been in this profession for 40-plus years, and this is the biggest challenge I’ve had,” Whittingham said after the game. “We will get it figured out, I promise you that. I am not sure what the timeline is, but I promise you we will get it figured out at some junction.

“Right now, we have a lot of answers to come up with because we have so many deficiencies. … The run game has been spotty and awful today, way under 100 yards.”

Additionally, Michigan’s defense never recorded a sack against Lindsey, who went 17 of 25 passing for 136 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Michigan Falls to Cellar of Big Ten Standings with MSU, Penn State

Michigan finds itself at the bottom of the Big Ten standings with a 0-2 conference mark after losing on the final play of the game to Iowa at home a week ago.

Michigan now heads into a bye week before entertaining Penn State on Oct. 17. The Wolverines have seven regular-season games remaining on the schedule including two more rivalry games: Michigan State at home on Nov. 7 and on the road against dreaded Ohio State Nov. 28.

“I told the guys the season can go one of two ways. It can fracture and go down a bad path, or we can regroup and the leaders can step up, and we can get things fixed.”

Whittingham also said the season has not gone the way he had envisioned it, dating all the way back to spring and fall camps.

“There is a disconnect. I keep going back to that word. There is something that is not allowing us to function at our best,” Whittingham said.