Michigan is one play away from being 4-0 this season, but if you asked Kyle Whittingham how he feels about the team right now, he would say 0-4. No, I'm not kidding. Whittingham said on Monday that he feels like Michigan is 0-4, but not necessarily because he thinks Michigan shouldn't have won any games this season, but based on the performance of the team and knowing their true potential.
If you ask running back and team captain Jordan Marshall, he agrees with Whittingham. After thinking about what his head coach said, Marshall feels Michigan has yet to play a complete game, and once they do, the rest of college football should be scared.
"When he [Whittingham] said that, I was like 0-4? But then I thought about it and I was like, yeah, if you want me to be honest, it has felt like that," Marshall said. "What I took from it iswe haven't played out best football on either side of the ball and we haven't played a complete football game and for me, it's like, it's gonna be stary when we do."
#Michigan RB Jordan Marshall reacting to HC Kyle Whittingham's 0-4 comment from Monday's presser:
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) September 30, 2026
"If you want me to be honest, it has felt like that. It's not because we're 0-4... that's not what he meant by that. What I took from it was we haven't played our best football." pic.twitter.com/pvi7fg1b55
Michigan needs to play its best football at the right time
Playing your best football at the right time is key for any team that wants to compete for a National Championship. Michigan definitely hasn't played its best football, like Marshall said, certainly not on offense. It is scary to think, with how good the defense has looked this season, that they haven't played their best football yet either.
The Wolverines certainly look better than they did in Week 1, especially on offense. After the first drive against Western Michigan, Bryce Underwood and the offense struggled to move the ball at all down the field, and against Iowa this past week, the passing game was working wonders. The next obstacle for Michigan's offense is finishing drives in the red zone.
A big problem for Underwood and Co. is getting seven points instead of just three, or even taking care of the football. The goal-line interception Underwood threw in the third quarter ended up really coming back to bite the Wolverines.
Defensively, it feels like Michigan can't get much better, but the discipline of the players is the biggest obstacle right now. There are too many unforced errors that are turning into penalties that, in turn, give opposing offenses new life on drives that would have been dead in the water.
If Jay Hill's unit can clean up the penalties, they can be a top five defense in the country.
Ultimately, Michigan doesn't want to be playing their best football right now. They want to play their best football when they are battling it out for a College Football Playoff spot and in the CFP later in the season. Marshall is right, though: Michigan needs to be playing complete games, and once they do, the rest of the college football world better watch out.
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