Lessons learned from Michigan football's self-inflicted loss to Washington

No. 10 Michigan fell to the Washington Huskis 27-17 on Saturday night, their first road win of the season.

Here are the key takeaways from the game.

Michigan's defense has major flaws

Michigan's defense allowed 429 yards and the mistakes were a combination of poor plans from defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and a lack of fundamentals and execution from the defensive players. Michigan's defense was a strange combination of passivity and over-aggressiveness, and anyone who watched the game knows exactly what that means. Washington's offense took advantage of Martindale's aggressive tendencies with trick plays, screenings and a true freshman running quarterback in Demond Williams Jr. Washington also took advantage of the soft coverage provided by Michigan's secondary, who were often lined up ten yards away only to retreat even further once the ball was snapped. The defense also showed poor zone coverage, lost track of where the ball was, and allowed a lot of hard-hitting plays. In addition to a great interception by linebacker Ernest Hausmann, Washington quarterback Will Rogers earned Michigan's lunch money by going 21 of 31 for 271 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

The Michigan defense isn't as solid in tackling as it was under defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, they don't communicate well enough, they don't maintain enough spacing discipline, and they play together under the line.

Jack Tuttle starts strong but ends with costly mistakes

Michigan trailed 14-0 and the offense was flat with Alex Orji at quarterback. Orji was 3 of 7 for just 15 yards and two of his passes were hit at the line of scrimmage. Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore brought in Jack Tuttle, which immediately caused a stir on offense. For the first time this season, it looked like Michigan had a balanced, functioning, cohesive offense with Tuttle at the helm. Tuttle started 7 of 9 passing but finished the game 10 of 18 for 98 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a lost fumble.

Tuttle deserves credit for breathing some life into the offense, and he's understandably rusty after dealing with injuries this offseason and early in the season, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that he makes some mistakes. However, things were on the line and Tuttle faltered when the game mattered most. After leading 17-14 in the third quarter, Michigan had five drives and again failed to score, while Washington scored 13 unanswered points.

Michigan has a bye week ahead of it and that could serve Tuttle well, someone who needs all the practice reps he can get with the first team. While anyone clamoring for the inclusion of true freshman Jadyn Davis isn't wrong, especially seeing as Washington is doing the same thing with Demond Williams Jr., it's still too early to have a definitive opinion on what Michigan's offense can and can't do Jack Tuttle as QB1.

The recipient numbers are once again disappointing

Tight end Colston Loveland has essentially been Michigan's passing offense this season, leading the team against Washington with six receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown. No recipient had more than one reception. Only three receivers had receptions – Amorion Walker, Tyler Morris and Semaj Morgan combined for three receptions and 46 yards. Both Sherrone Moore and offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell have mentioned receivers creating separation and having better route details as focal points, and clearly they don't do either at a high level. I wrote after Michigan's Week 1 win over Fresno State that the discrepancy between Loveland's receiving stats and those of the wideouts was unsustainable if it was to be a good passing offense. We are now six games into the season and there has been little improvement at wideout.

This is a crazy college football season and somehow Michigan is still in the mix

Several top 12 teams lost on Saturday. No. 1 Alabama lost to Vanderbilt. No. 4 Tennessee lost to Arkansas. No. 9 Missouri lost to Texas A&M. No. 10 Michigan lost to Washington. No. 11 USC lost to Minnesota. And No. 8 Miami is losing to Cal at the time of publication. If Michigan doesn't improve exponentially, they won't make the playoffs, that's for sure, but mathematically they're still in the mix in all this chaos. That's what makes the rest of this season interesting, regardless of what happens in the end. As bleak as things look or as inevitable as things feel given how Michigan's season is going, they still have a chance and we'll be here to cover it!