Michigan's game against Western Michigan was bad, like really bad, and even the players know they didn't play up to par. They didn't celebrate in the locker room after the win, and then, they even a player-led meeting not even 12 hours after the end of the game.
That's right, after the disaster of a game Michigan played on Saturday that somehow ended up with the Wolverines being 1-0 after, defensive tackle and captain Trey Pierce called the meeting, according to running back and fellow captain Jordan Marshall.
Marshall did state that if Pierce hadn't called the meeting, he would have, adding that he couldn't even sleep after Michigan's game against Western Michigan. The player-led meeting at least shows that this team knows the performance they put out on Saturday was nowhere near good enough, and they are already taking matters into their own hands to fix the problems.
#Michigan RB Jordan Marshall says DT Trey Pierce called the player-led meeting on Sunday, but if he didn’t call it, he admits he would’ve called it himself.
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) September 8, 2026
He adds he couldn’t sleep after the game and that performance on Saturday night. pic.twitter.com/FNNldSEFp2
Michigan had horrible games under Sherrone Moore, and only after the 2024 loss to Oklahoma did the players call a meeting. The fact that it took only one poor performance for the captains to come together and get the ship righted shows the culture that Kyle Whittingham has built and continues to build at Michigan, even after years of scandals, drama, and distractions.
There is a positive note to Michigan's poor performance against Western Michigan
Michigan played its worst football, and still walked away with the win, which could mean two things: 1) this team is simply just lucky, or 2) when it mattered most, which just so happened to be the last play, playmakers stepped up.
Bryce Underwood threw a good enough ball for a Hail Mary, and probably the only offensive player to have a decent game, JJ Buchanan, went up and completed a miracle play. While everyone is looking at this game in a glass-half-empty way, myself included, there is a glass-half-full way to look at it, too.
To come together and still win that game, Michigan needed to get close enough for a Hail Mary. They did. Sure, the clock controversy is there, but the Wolverines still had to complete the Hail Mary on the second chance. Underwood needed to make a good throw to the right part of the end zone. He did. Buchanan needed to not only catch the ball, but break the plane and come down with control. He did.
Michigan might have gotten the wake-up call it needed against Western Michigan
All offseason, there was so much hype around this team, and that can tend to cause a team to overlook these "cupcake" matchups, but let's face it, Western Michigan is more than a "cupcake" team. The Broncos came out and kicked the Wolverines in the teeth, giving them the wake-up call they needed going into the 2026 season.
Does this look like a team that could make the College Football Playoff? Well, the defense does, but the offense has an extremely long way to go. It is a long season, though, and with Michigan's schedule, they have plenty of games to make the statement that they aren't the team that played in Week 1.
Their first opportunity at a statement game is coming up in Week 2 against No. 11 Oklahoma. Now, if Michigan comes out looking like a different team, they can quell worries that they can't compete, but the offense has to take a huge step forward, especially with Underwood's play.
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