Week 6 of college football came as an ultimate trend crusher. It delivered exactly the opposite of what we had expected. From Alabama’s tragic loss to Vanderbilt to No. 11 USC’s massive downfall to unranked Minnesota, the upsets galore continue with the Wolverines being forced to lower their ego to the Huskies on Saturday with a 17-27 loss. The outcome certainly left Sherrone Moore under the bus, with fans extensively booing his first-year tenure at Ann Arbor. That said, for the astute fans, the catastrophe was hardly a surprise. They saw it coming despite the Wolverines being a Vegas favorite last week.

Michigan has been showcasing the loopholes throughout the season for the fans who pay keen attention. The glaring quarterback issues got the better of them in most of the games this year. Within just a year of winning a national championship, Michigan lost its momentum. An expert lens sees it as a Michigan football defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s fiasco.

Wink Martindale behind the Wolverines’s painful fate at Husky stadium?

Blame it on the stage Jim Harbaugh has not set for Moore or the latter’s impotence to bring out the best of his own, the pathetic reality lingers as it does. Thanks to not only a sloppy offense but also an unstable defense, which is far from the bar that Jesse Minter set up during his historic tenure as the defensive coordinator of the Wolverines.

Bringing it upfront, college football analyst Darren, on his Darren Talks Ball podcast, said, ”We’re going to get into Wink Martindale’s defense here cuz I don’t want this to get too rambling, of course, and you can like share and subscribe and all the good stuff by the way, but this is what it looks like so far in this season a far cry from where Jesse Minter had this team, and now that’s the problem with this defense too it’s not as deep.”

The football visionary continued the bash, noting how the entire defense setup lacks depth and how the defensive play cooler underplayed his role, cluelessly hovering around his job.

Although the team has survived tough tests before, it will be pertinent to note that 2024 is much more taxing than an ordinary, easy 2023 schedule, and here is where the squad visibly failed to jump on. But what exactly went wrong on the defensive end during last week’s disastrous match-up? Let’s dig deeper, sharper.

Michigan defense fell flat under the heavy momentum of the Huskies

Quarterback Will Rogers and the Huskies started on a high note, taking the team to a 14-0 advantage. Throughout the game, the Huskies’ defense was also dead tight when the Wolverines tried to reach there, their efforts looked highly disorganized. Consequently, they failed to stop the Washington storm, which put them under early pressure with 50 yards just on the first four possessions, with one missed field goal and two touchdowns. Slowly, the Wolverines got back to shape, but it was a far cry from compensating for the damage the opponent had already inflicted.

”I just feel like early on in the game they had a lot of explosive plays. Early in the game, the other team always has their call sheet, and the best plays come off. I feel like they had too many explosive plays then.” Michigan junior defensive tackle Mason Graham pinpointed in a post-Michigan-vs-Washington interview.

Whether this will affect Wink Martindale’s future with the program is a subject of question, but the brickbat speaks volumes.

What’s your take on Wink Martindale’s role behind the latest Michigan upset? Let us know in the comments.