Whittingham: Start to Michigan tenure 'emotional roller coaster'

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  Adam RittenbergSep 28, 2026, 11:46 AM ET

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  College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.

Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham acknowledged the emotional swings of the season's first month, saying Monday, "Right now we're 3-1, but I feel like we're 0-4."

The Wolverines won their season opener against Western Michigan on the controversial final play after a replay review showed 1 second remained, setting up a Bryce Underwood Hail Mary touchdown pass. Michigan lost on the final play Saturday against Iowa, which fired a 16-yard touchdown pass as time expired. In between, Michigan outlasted Oklahoma in a defensive struggle, and overcame a poor start against UTEP to pull away.

"One play away from 4-0, one play away from 2-2, so it's been three very close games," Whittingham said. "It's been an emotional rollercoaster in a way, but I see a lot of things trending in the right direction."

Among those is Underwood, who Whittingham reiterated played his best game against Iowa, passing for 276 yards and two touchdowns. Michigan drew eight penalties, including an unnecessary roughness foul on defensive back Zeke Berry on third-and-12 with 26 seconds left. Whittingham said he's not overly concerned about the number of penalties Michigan has drawn but added, "we've had far too many personal fouls. We've had eight in four games."

The coach did not have immediate updates on defensive end John Henry Daley and offensive tackle Blake Frazier, who were injured against Iowa. Daley, who transferred from Utah after a breakout 2025 season cut short by an Achilles injury, has three sacks in four games.

Michigan soon will know about the status of tackle Andrew Sprague, who missed the last two games, and will get tackle Andrew Babalola back on the practice field next week. Babalola, a top-30 national recruit in 2025, has yet to play for Michigan after missing all of last season with an ACL tear.

The Wolverines play their first road game of the season this week when they visit Minnesota.