After scoring on its first two drives, it felt like Michigan football might actually start looking like Michigan football.
Then, the Wolverines gave up an 80-yard touchdown, something they haven't done since before Jim Harbaugh was the head coach (2014). There were two missed field goals, and freshman quarterback Tommy Carr had to engineer a 75-yard drive in the fourth quarter to get the win.
A win is a win. It's better than a loss, but Saturday wasn't a sign of progress. It felt like more of the same. Michigan averaged just 3.8 yards per rushing attempt. Carr ran for 54 yards and found the end zone twice in the second half.
Carr also completed 22 of 27 passes for 266 yards. His play was something to feel good about. However, it's hard to feel good about the Michigan football program as long as Whittingham is the head coach.
Kyle Whittingham has to go at the end of the season
Whittingham is an older head coach. Curt Cignetti is, too, but there is a massive difference between the two. Whittingham doesn't seem to have any urgency. Hell, sometimes it doesn't even seem like he knows the play calls.
Could you imagine Cignetti allowing what he considered a bad play call to actually get called in a must-have situation? I don't. Whittingham has done that multiple times this season, or he doesn't know the play calls. Either way, Michigan looks like a team without a head coach.
It's been eight games, and the only sign of fire Whittingham showed was during the Oklahoma game, when Michigan roughed the punter. Outside of that, he seems like he's on an afternoon walk, not coaching a $30 million roster that has failed to meet expectations.
Winning out could fix that. The idea of that happening seems laughable, though. The Wolverines get two top-10 teams plus Oregon and Michigan State. Six wins still aren't guaranteed.
Michigan State will treat it like their Super Bowl. Oregon is Oregon, and the other two teams have been two of the most consistent in college football.
Michigan has been consistent, too. Just not in the way you'd want.
Teams take on the personality of their head coach. For all the talk about toughness and discipline, this Michigan team isn't disciplined. It's not tough, either, especially on offense. The Wolverines have lost the ability to push teams around. Heck, they averaged less than four yards per rushing attempt against Rutgers, a team allowing an average of 5.8.
Even though it wasn't a loss, it felt like more evidence that Whittingham just isn't up to the task of being Michigan football's head coach.
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