Michigan Football: 3 areas where the Wolverines need to improve

Michigan needs to reign in the penalties, especially personal fouls

As as a Wolverines fan, you cannot help but love a guy like Chase Winovich. The senior is a dominant player, one that should definitely earn All-American honors by season’s end. Yet, he has also committed some stupid penalties and he’s not alone.

We can all remember Winovich’s penalty against Notre Dame, which gave the Irish a new set of downs, eventually costing Michigan four points. That wasn’t his only personal foul and considering the Wolverines have been called for targeting a bunch of times, it’s not a surprise.

Through seven games, the Wolverines are being penalized more than 73 yards per game, which ranks 110th in the FBS. Josh Metellus and Khaleke Hudson have also missed games due to targeting penalties and ejections.

Another reason for the penalties is the aggressive man-to-man scheme Michigan plays on the outside. Those kinds of penalties are acceptable, but the targeting calls and the other personal fouls have to be reduced.

You don’t want Michigan to lose its edge or its toughness, yet the Wolverines need to be smart and they have to stop giving away so much free yardage because eventually, they will play a team good enough to take advantage of it.