COLUMN: 1 Second Changed Michigan Football's Entire 2026 Season — But Outlook Isn't Good

Kyle Whittingham was one second away from having arguably the worst start in Michigan history.

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Kyle Whittingham was hired to get Michigan football back on track. It's not like the Wolverines didn't win any games in the last two seasons under Sherrone Moore, but it was a circus around Ann Arbor, and Michigan was an undisciplined team — a far cry from what things were like under Jim Harbaugh.

Whittingham is a proven commodity. He coached Utah for 21 seasons as its head coach and did some nice things for the Utes. Entering 2026, Michigan was a sneaky pick to make some noise, as the Wolverines' offense was set to do bigger and better things with Jason Beck coming over as the new offensive coordinator, working with QB Bryce Underwood.

But Whittingham's tenure turned from an embarrassing upset to magic.

Michigan went right down the field on the opening possession, and the Wolverines were rolling on Saturday night against Western Michigan. Except that would be the last time the Wolverines would score in the game — until one second was added back on the clock.

The Broncos came into Ann Arbor and appeared to upset the Wolverines as time expired off the clock. Bryce Underwood threw the ball out of the end zone, but the refs opted to look at the clock. And one second was added, which gave Underwood one more shot to put the ball in the end zone.

That's when Utah transfer JJ Buchanan came down with it, which gave Michigan a 13-12 win.

Michigan might be 1-0, but this doesn't appear to be a good football team

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As the saying goes, you never apologize for a win, and while Western Michigan certainly isn't happy about what's being called 'clockgate' around the internet, the Wolverines aren't going to apologize.

Chances were slim to none that Underwood, who threw the ball out of play one throw earlier, would make a perfect pass to Buchanan, who could come down with the ball without it being swatted out of his hands.

And Whittingham isn't going to apologize either, but he knows there is a lot to clean up. Because this did not look like a football team that is going to compete for a Big Ten title, or win many games during a daunting schedule.

"..This game will go down in Michigan history," Whittingham said after the game. "I don't know if it's in a positive way, but it will go down in history for certain. Bottom line is we're 1-0, but the reality is we have got a lot to fix, a lot of things to address.

"But I'm going to tell you right now, there was not a lot of hooting and hollering in that locker room; in fact, there was none, because we understand that we've got a lot of work to do and we've got to be much, much better than we were tonight."

Michigan will do or die with Underwood

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When you think of a Whittingham-coached team, you think of a disciplined program. However, the Wolverines were far from that against WMU. Michigan had nine penalties for 80 yards in the game, and there were far too many self-inflicted wounds.

While that was the more disappointing issue with Michigan — the biggest issue came at QB. Coaches and players raved about how well Underwood progressed in fall camp. And he might've, but that didn't show on Saturday.

Underwood was flawless in the first drive for Michigan, taking the Wolverines down the field, and scoring a TD. But that was it. It was a scripted drive and after that, Underwood went back to his old habits. His footwork was messed up, he stared down his targets, and had two costly turnovers.

We have to assume Michigan is going to get the rushing attack rolling, hopefully next week, but the Wolverines are going to do or die with how No. 19 looks this season. Whittingham is now tasked with getting fall-camp Underwood to show up in live action, because if not, the Wolverines' 2026 outlook is not good in Whittingham's first season.

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