Bryce Underwood, Kyle Whittingham Get Low Marks in Michigan Football's Weekly Report Card

The grades are in, and with a historic loss, they are not pretty. Michigan had not lost to Minnesota in Minneapolis since 1977.

They had won 18 of the last 20 games against the Gophers in general. Losing against Minnesota does not happen often at Michigan, but this version of the Wolverines found a way.

With that in mind, let’s dive right into the report card, starting with the most disappointing part of the game.

Pass Offense

One step forward, three giant steps back. That’s what Saturday’s game felt like for Bryce Underwood. The Wolverines had made some progress with their sophomore quarterback as he entered Saturday’s contest coming off his best game as Michigan’s quarterback.

Every bad habit, all the poor decisions, and all of the bad vibes came to an ugly head on Saturday as Michigan fell behind.

Underwood threw two interceptions in the second half and narrowly escaped a third. His happy feet in the pocket returned. His eyes dropped to look at the rush, instead of trying to find receivers down field.

Michigan’s limited passing game with two capable pass catchers could hardly muster 100 yards against the Gophers’ defense. They did not pass the 100-yard mark until the final series of the fourth quarter which ended by Underwood sailing a pass well over the head of his intended receiver.

No, it is not time to bench him. Tommy Carr is a true freshman, and putting him in a bad situation would just be re-doing the mistake they made with Underwood a season ago.

Underwood was a true freshman put into a bad situation, tasked with saving the football program.

Carr would be a true freshman put into a bad situation being tasked with saving the program.

Underwood should be the quarterback when Michigan returns from their bye week, but he needs to start getting better. Whether that’s guys making more plays for him, or him being better himself.

The passing game is not good enough at his juncture, and it stopped getting better on Saturday.

Grade: F

Rush Offense

Jordan Marshall carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards. Bryce Underwood carried the ball 10 times for 20 yards. Savion Hiter was a no show with nine yards on eight carries.

Michigan’s run game was ranked 92nd in the country coming into Saturday’s game, and they’re doing little to acquit themselves there. Their insistence on running east and west is going to be their undoing, but we’ll get to more of that in a minute.

Some of the issues in this game were the lack of attempts, but Michigan could not establish any sort of a rhythm in the second half.

Oct 3, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Jordan Marshall (23) runs with the ball against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Michigan has a lot of issues on offense, but their inability to establish a rhythm on the ground against anyone puts a lot on the shoulders of an inconsistent passing game that is nowhere near ready to carry their offense.

Grade: D-Minus

Pass Defense

Finally, Michigan’s defense was able to bear the fruit of having opportunities to take the ball away.

After last Saturday’s disaster where at least two passes hit Michigan defensive backs in the hands, and two others were tipped in the air by Hawkeye receivers, only to be caught by other Iowa receivers.

This week, no such fortune found Minnesota’s passing game. Troy Bowles hit Drake Lindsey in the first quarter for a game-changing interception that was caught by Smith Snowden.

Michigan’s offense would cash that in with a touchdown from Jordan Marshall to tie the game at seven.

Later in the game, Nathaniel Staehling made what was the play of the game for the Wolverines. A 79-yard pick-six that gave them a 14-7 lead, and flipped the entire momentum of the game in their favor.

A WOLVERINE PICK-SIX 〽️

Nathaniel Staehling takes it 79-yards to the house for @UMichFootball! pic.twitter.com/gkAcBssxR2
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 3, 2026

Drake Lindsey has a chance to make a run to the NFL when his college career ends, but the Wolverines were able to limit him.

One potential concern was the disappearance of the pass rush. Both John Henry Daley and Dom Nichols were hobbled, but there were too many instances where Lindsey was comfortable in the pocket. Will Michigan be better coming off the bye if those two are healthy?

Grade: B-Plus

Rush Defense

Minnesota’s offense wasn’t able to do much against Michigan’s defense in either phase of the game. The one big blunder was a 31-yard run on a reverse after a Bryce Underwood interception gave them great field position.

Aside from that, Minnesota finished with 136 rushing yards on 38 carries. That will play anywhere for the Wolverines.

This group has been pretty stout despite some concerns about the defensive tackles and linebackers coming into the season.

There were a few mishaps in short yardage, and you don’t like to see Minnesota pushing the pile against Michigan’s defense, but that’s far from Michigan’s biggest problem at the moment.

Grade: B

Special Teams

Someone other than Andrew Marsh needs to practice returning punts during the bye week. Marsh has lost two fumbles in five weeks, and his muff on Saturday flipped the game. Michigan led 14-7 when Marsh fumbled the ball in the third quarter, leading to a Minnesota field goal to get the avalanche started against them.

You turn the ball over, your unit grades poorly, those are the rules.

Grade: D-Minus

Coaching

Michigan had not lost to Minnesota in Minnesota since 1977. Michigan had not lost to Iowa since 2016. Are you sensing a pattern here? Because you should be.

Michigan is losing games they do not typically lose. Not all of this is on the coaches, but stuff rolls downhill. That starts at the top, with all eyes on Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham said figuring out the disconnect between practice and games is the biggest challenge that he’s faced in his 40 years of coaching.

He better figure it out, because at 3-2, Michigan’s season is circling the drain. So too might be his coaching career if this season spirals completely out of control.

Offensively, Jason Beck continues to call games as if he is coaching at Utah. The horizontal run game has not worked all season. It continues to not work. Michigan’s program is built around a power run game with downhill runners. Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter both fit that mold.

The offensive line leaves a little to be desired, but they are built to block for backs like Hiter and Marshall.

One of the biggest plays of the game came on the first series. Michigan had a chance to establish momentum and take the crowd out of the game with an opening scoring drive. On a third-and-1 from midfield, he put Jordan Marshall in a wildcat formation, taking away any deception that could be possible on that play. The play was predictably stuffed, and Michigan had to punt.

Players have to make plays. There’s no question about that. It’s hard, however, not to see both Whittingham and Beck as significant problems during Michigan’s 3-2 start.

Jay Hill’s defense is the only saving grace from this group getting an F.

Grade: D-Minus

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