It is great to be 2-0, and Michigan is honestly lucky given the way they have performed at times in the first two games of the season. It is going to be tough to stay undefeated, though, if Michigan doesn't clean up its penalty issues.
Through the first two games of the season, Michigan is ranked 10th in overall penalties in the country with 20, according to StatMuse. That is not something Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham is accustomed to, and he isn't happy about it.
#Michigan HC Kyle Whittingham says they got to reduce the amount of penalties and can’t be having that if they expect to keep winning.
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) September 14, 2026
At Utah, Whittingham's teams averaged around six penalties a game in the last five years he was the head coach and were never ranked lower than 41st in fewest penalties per game. Now, in two games at Michigan, the Wolverines are averaging 10 penalties a game, and they aren't even smart ones.
Penalties could be costly to Michigan when Big Ten play hits
To this point, penalties haven't cost Michigan a game in the win column, but looking at the schedule ahead of them once they hit conference play, those mistakes could become a lot more costly. Sure, there is going to be a holding penalty here, maybe a false start there, but it's the penalties that give opponents new life that are hurting the Wolverines most.
The biggest penalty that comes to mind in the first two games is Jyaire Hill's personal foul when the Wolverines had the Sooners pinned at the one-yard line in the third quarter. Michigan punter Cam Brown was punting lights out against Oklahoma, punting the ball inside the 20-yard line six times, making life so much harder for the offense.
When OU was about to have a third and long on the 1-yard line, Hill came up and randomly hit an Oklahoma player outside of the play that was happening, and, to no surprise, the refs threw a flag. It gave Oklahoma new life, and they went on to score a touchdown.
Then the special teams penalties have started to pile up. Not once, but twice did Michigan have either a roughing-the-punter or running-into-the-punter flag that gave the Sooners a new set of downs. Luckily, the defense continued to pick up either itself or the special teams by getting stops.
When the opponents get tougher and the season begins to wear down this team, the penalties are going to become more and more costly. Luckily, the Wolverines have been good at making up for their penalty mistakes, like Hill getting the crucial interception that set up Michigan's go-ahead touchdown, but will that happen every time this season?
At some point, Michigan is going to have to clean things up because it simply shows a lack of self-discipline, and Whittingham won't tolerate that.
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