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

Here are the key insights from the game.

Michigan’s defense has major flaws

Michigan’s defense allowed 429 yards and the mistakes were a combination of poor planning from defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and a lack of fundamentals and execution from defensive players. Michigan’s defense was an odd combination of passive and overly aggressive, and anyone who watched the game knows exactly what that means. Washington’s offense took advantage of Martindale’s aggressive tendencies with tricks, screens and a true freshman running quarterback in Demond Williams Jr. Washington also took advantage of the soft coverage of the Michigan secondary, often lining up ten yards down the stretch only to retreat even further once the ball was. snapped. The defense also showed poor zone coverage, losing track of where the ball was and giving up many backbreaking plays. In addition to a huge interception by linebacker Ernest Hausmann, Washington quarterback Will Rogers took Michigan’s lunch money and went 21 of 31 for 271 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Michigan’s defense isn’t as solid as it was under defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, they don’t communicate well enough, they don’t maintain enough gap discipline, and they play collectively below 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-for-7 for just 15 yards and two of his passes were hit at the line of scrimmage. Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore added Jack Tuttle and it provided an immediate spark to the offense. For the first time this season, it appeared Michigan had a balanced, functional and cohesive offense with Tuttle at the helm. Tuttle started 7-for-9 passing, but finished the game 10-for-18 for 98 yards with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble.

Tuttle deserves credit for breathing some life into the offense, and he’s understandably rusty after dealing with injuries this offseason and into the season, so it shouldn’t be a huge surprise to see him get a make a number of mistakes. However, things were up for grabs and Tuttle hesitated when the game mattered most. After going up 17-14 in the third quarter, Michigan had five drives and didn’t score again, while Washington was able to score 13 unanswered points.

Michigan has a bye week on deck and this could serve Tuttle well, someone who needs all the practice reps he can get with the first team. While anyone clamoring to see true freshman Jadyn Davis isn’t going off base, especially seeing Washington do the same for spurts with Demond Williams Jr., it’s too early to have a definitive stance on what Michigan’s offense can and cannot do. Jack Tuttle as QB1.

Recipients once again have disappointing numbers

Tight end Colston Loveland was essentially Michigan’s passing attack 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 better route detail as areas of concern, and they’re clearly not doing that at a high level. I wrote after Michigan’s Week 1 win over Fresno State that the difference between Loveland’s receiving stats and those of the wideouts isn’t sustainable if it wants 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 time of publication. If Michigan doesn’t have exponential improvement, they won’t make the playoffs, that’s a given, but mathematically they’re still in the mix with all the chaos going on. That makes the rest of this season interesting, no matter what happens. No matter how bleak things look or how inevitable things feel in terms of how Michigan’s season plays out, they still have a chance and we’ll be there to beat it!