Whittingham says turnovers are the one thing holding Michigan back before Penn State

Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham used the bye week to look hard at what has gone wrong in a 3-2 start. He came back with one answer: turnovers.

Whittingham was speaking with Jon Jansen on the "Inside Michigan Football" show, as reported by Tony Garcia of the Detroit Free Press. He said the Wolverines would have no losses if they had finished on the plus side of the turnover margin through five games. "I can tell you that without a doubt," he said, adding that no other problem comes close.

The numbers back him up. The Free Press reports that Michigan is minus-4 in turnover margin, which ties it for 122nd of 138 FBS teams and shares the worst mark in the Big Ten with Rutgers. The Wolverines have lost the turnover battle in four of their five games. They won it only against Oklahoma, 1-0, and even that day Michigan fumbled twice to the Sooners' once and happened to recover all three.

Much of the attention is on quarterback Bryce Underwood. He has seven turnovers, four interceptions and three fumbles, which matches his seven touchdowns. Whittingham said Underwood remains the starter, and that the choice comes down to who gives Michigan the best chance to win, not class year or NIL money. He also said no major personnel changes are coming. There is one adjustment: wide receiver Andrew Marsh will stop returning punts after muffing two. Whittingham indicated that health also played a part in that decision.

The defense hasn't helped enough either, even though it has played well in most other respects. Michigan ranks third nationally in total defense at 241.4 yards allowed per game. But its two takeaways against Minnesota on Oct. 3, a pick-six and an interception that gave the offense a short field, are its season high. Whittingham said his team isn't doing enough to shorten the field for the offense, and the Free Press noted that Michigan ranks 91st in net starting field position.

Whittingham called the week off productive. He said several players would have missed time with injuries had Michigan played, so the timing helped. The staff also cut parts of offensive coordinator Jason Beck's playbook that weren't working, though Whittingham warned against panicking and rebuilding everything after a couple of bad games.

This week tests whether the message has landed. Michigan is 0-2 in the Big Ten and hosts Penn State, which is 3-3 overall and 0-3 in league play, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EDT on CBS. One of these teams will pick up its first conference win, and the other will fall further behind in the standings.

The market makes Michigan the favorite. On Novig, one of the venues pricing the game, the Wolverines are -212. The spread has Michigan favored by 6.5 points with a total of 41.5. The best sportsbook price on Michigan is -220 at FanDuel. Full prices are on the Penn State at Michigan odds page.

A low total suggests a tight, low-scoring game. In that kind of game, one fumble or interception can decide the result, which is Whittingham's point.