Kyle Whittingham sends a strong message about Michigan's coaching staff originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Michigan Wolverines suffered a back-breaking 13-6 loss in overtime to the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday. Their offense struggled to get going all game and failed to reach pay dirt.
Despite the subpar offense all season, head coach Kyle Whittingham still believes in his staff to correct the issues. The Wolverines only accumulated 57 yards on the ground and averaged 1.4 yards per carry against Indiana.
“If you can’t run the football, everything else is going to be really hard, and we could not run the football today. We were not getting any knock back. We weren’t hitting the movement well at all. And they were not heavy boxes. They were just their normal boxes and a lot of split safety looks. And we still just couldn’t make any hay in the run game. And that really is why the offensive success is predicated on being able to run the ball. And we could not do it consistently.”
"Right now, it's not time to panic. We're a play away from being 6-1 or 7-0," Whittington said on Monday.
This season under offensive coordinator Jason Beck, Michigan averages 20.2 points per game and ranks in the bottom ten nationally in total offense. Whittingham brought Beck along from Utah.
Whittingham admitted everything falls on his shoulders, and Beck wishes he could have the bootleg play call back, which resulted in a sack and missed field goal for the Wolverines.
“Well, last year, Jason was exceptional,” Whittingham said. “And we had exceptional results, so I’m not going to say that he’s struggling. We’re trying. There’s no lack of work ethic or spending time on it or in the building around the clock."
The Wolverines (4-3) dropped their third Big Ten game on Saturday, and their conference championship and College Football Playoff hopes are out of the window. The dreadful offensive play has overshadowed a strong defense.
Michigan will travel to Rutgers on Saturday, October 31 (12:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network).
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