The Western Michigan Broncos nearly spoiled Kyle Whittingham's debut as Michigan Wolverines head coach with a stunning performance in their season-opening game. Michigan was held to just one touchdown for most of the game and won on a Hail Mary touchdown pass in the final second of the game. That miraculous throw came controversially, too, as the referees reviewed the previous play and determined that Western Michigan safety Micah Davis had touched the ball while out of bounds with one second remaining, giving the Wolverines another play.
During his postgame remarks, Whittingham addressed starting the season 1-0, suggesting that despite what occurred on the field after the win, there wasn't much celebrating in the locker room after the win. "The bottom line is we're 1-0, but the reality is we have got a lot to fix, a lot of things to address," Michigan's head coach told reporters. More news: Paul Finebaum Rips Lane Kiffin With Blunt Message Amid LSU Controversy "The things that we didn't do well: We didn't play the run well on defense, we didn't run the ball well on offense, we lost the turnover margin 3-0, we didn't make enough first downs," Whittingham said, adding, "All this is squarely on my shoulders, there's no doubt about that, and I gotta do a better job preparing this football team." "But, I can tell you right now, there was not a lot of hootin' and hollerin' in that locker room.
It's like there was none, because we understand that we've got a lot of work to do, and we've gotta be much, much better than we were tonight," he said. Michigan had an underwhelming overall effort, possessing the ball for under 20 minutes compared to over 40 for Western Michigan. They attempted to convert 10 third downs, but converted just three.
Michigan also had nine penalties for 80 yards. The Michigan offense had only 106 rushing yards and 170 passing yards. They fumbled twice, threw an interception, and got sacked once.
Whittingham's assessment is extremely accurate, especially as they prepare for their next opponent. They'll take on No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday, Sept. 12, in what could be a major opportunity to show they're a better team, or a disastrous loss, proving how bad this Michigan season might get. More news: College Football Fans Are Divided Over Jeremiah Smith-Malachi Toney Debate For more about the Michigan Wolverines and NCAA football, visit Newsweek Sports.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
