3 winners, 3 losers after Michigan Football’s loss at Minnesota
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Michigan came up short for the second week in a row. The Wolverines dropped their first road game of the season, losing to Minnesota by a 20-14 final score. An inspired defense wasn’t enough to cover for Michigan’s lack of offensive production. Let’s not dwell on the outcome too much in the first paragraph.
Here are three winners and three losers after Michigan falls to 0-2 in Big Ten play and 3-2 on the season.
Defense | Winner
Michigan’s defense did what it needed to do to keep the Wolverines in this game. The Wolverines lost the turnover battle, but it wasn’t because the defense wasn’t playing with everything it had. The Wolverines had a pick-six from linebacker Nathaniel Staehling. His return was 79 yards, the exact same number of rushing yards the offense managed. Minnesota was only 4-of-14 on third down and averaged four yards per play. I’m willing to overlook Michigan’s red zone defense given the fact it was put in terrible positions by the offense.
OC Jason Beck | Loser
We’ve discussed this before, but I’m an optimist. I like to try to speak positively about people and focus on what went well. Unfortunately, offensive cootindator Jason Beck’s decisions in this game didn’t feel inspired. We didn’t see any creativity in the play calling and it looked like the offensive line has taken a major step backward. I get that Bryce Underwood threw multiple interceptions, but I personally think it’s on Beck. He’s supposed to be one of the adults in the room and get the best out of his players. That’s just not what we’ve seen this season, and especially on Saturday.
DC Jay Hill | Winner
Defensive coordinator Jay Hill has found a way to make his units look like a well-oiled machine. While watching the game, I felt a little critical of some of the tackling, but looking at it further, there’s just not much more you can ask of the defense. The defense put points on the board, gave the offense a short field to get into the end zone, and despite being on the field for most of the game (37:36), it still forced Minnesota’s offense off the field and gave the ball back to the offense with a chance to win the game.
Special Teams| Loser
Michigan’s punter Cam Brown is excellent, and the special teams unit isn’t all bad. Still, wide receiver Andrew Marsh muffed a punt, and running back Bryson Kuzdzal really didn’t get anything going on the kickoff unit, so we’re throwing special teams into the losers column. The Marsh muff, in particular, really hurt and led to points being put on the board by Minnesota. That was Marsh’s second muffed punt of the season.
QB Tommy Carr | Winner
I’m on the fence about this one. While this coaching staff hasn’t had a chance to work with Underwood in a road game, fans will call for a different player under center moving forward. After Tommy Carr looked competent in his one appearance this season, it’s easy to see how he could be a winner after this week’s game. Unfortunately, the problems could be bigger than just Underwood’s performance on the field. After the game, head coach Kyle Whittingham said he didn’t want to panic, and they’re going into a bye week and are going to evaluate everything across the board offensively. But if Carr puts together some nice practices, maybe he’s a winner after this week and can work his way onto the field more.
Offensive line | Loser
Underwood was under pressure for most of this game, and the offensive line is to blame for the most part. We expected this unit to improve this season with Jim Harding coming over from Utah with Whittinghan. In their defense, they’ve been dealing with injuries, but it’s just not getting much better. The offense mustered up 11 first downs, while also averaging 3.7 yards per play and only 79 rushing yards. That won’t cut it against any team, especially on the road.
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