No team has experienced a more dramatic opening month than Michigan, with two of head coach Kyle Whittingham's first four games decided on the final play.
After coming out on the winning side of Week 1's controversial Hail Mary finish against Western Michigan, Michigan fell at the buzzer on a 16-yard Iowa touchdown on Saturday.
The latest result certainly sucked the energy out of the Big House and changed the vibe around the program after an eventful first month under Whittingham.
"We're 3-1, and I feel like we're 0-4. One play away from 4-0, one play away from 2-2," Whittingham said Monday. "Three of the four games have been very close and contested games. It's been an emotional roller coaster in a way, but I see a lot of things trending in the right direction."
Although Michigan was the better team for most of Saturday's game, Kirk Ferentz and Iowa have largely built their identity on pulling victories from the jaws of defeat.
Ranked 110th in the nation in penalties per game, the Wolverines have struggled this season with discipline issues that reared their ugly head at the worst time against the Hawkeyes. Zeke Berry's personal foul call on third-and-12 during the final drive gave Iowa a crucial first down that helped set up the winning touchdown.
"We have way too many penalties, we understand that," Whittingham said. "We got to do a better job of heightening the players' awareness to thoughtless penalties, penalties that could have very easily been avoided. That's really the thing that we're focusing on."
Whittingham was also asked about the defensive coverage on the Hawkeyes' winning touchdown pass. Instead of stacking bodies across the goal line to prevent the score, Michigan opted for press-man coverage and fell victim to a back-shoulder throw.
"Jay Hill calls the defense and felt that, based on what he was expecting and what we're best at, he thought that was the best structure to be in," Whittingham said. "There's two schools of thought: you play coverage or bring it all."
The Wolverines head to Minnesota this weekend before hitting their bye week.
