The team the team the team. I’m not going to start off talking about He Who Shall Not Be Named in the First Paragraph because I want to take a more holistic look at Michigan’s 2025 team. But this looks like a complete team. I don’t think it’s a championship team, but it’s a complete team in that there are no glaring weaknesses or players who are obviously overmatched. Now some might say “Meh, it’s New Mexico and they were 5-7 last year and lost their coach and brought in a bunch of new players,” but it’s a team that had a mindset of running the ball last year (#2 in the country in 2024) and it’s one that seems to have taken on the attitude of its coach. I heard good things about Jason Eck a few years ago on the coaching clinic circuit, and the team played with some swagger, which you have to do coming into Michigan Stadium as a giant underdog. Michigan looks like a pro team in the sense that there are no easy days against pro teams. If you have an injury on your 53-man roster in the NFL, you bring in another guy who looks like a pro, because he’s been a backup or he’s a veteran who played for ten years but maybe didn’t have the right contract situation. I mentioned before that this is the deepest Michigan team I’ve seen (perhaps not the best, but the deepest), and I think that showed on Saturday night.
Hit the jump for more.
He Who Shall Now Be Named. Bryce Underwood is really good. Shocking, I know. He was 21/31 for 251 yards and 1 touchdown, and he took 2 sacks for -5 yards. But he’s the most impressive athlete on the field in the way he can move, throw, and be physical. Michigan threw for its most yards since the Purdue game in 2023, and yes, that includes the final six games of J.J. McCarthy’s career and the championship run. So in his first start as a true freshman, Underwood had more passing yards than Michigan had in the past nineteen (19!!!) games. He had some very impressive throws, including a 39-yard gain to Channing Goodwin in the two-minute drill to get into New Mexico territory and a gorgeous touch pass to Marlin Klein on play action that led to a 27-yard gain. He made a ton of passes with zip, even on the move, and he fit a couple balls into tight windows, including a 30-yard catch-and-run to Kendrick Bell. Granted, he’s only a freshman going into his second game, but it was really exciting to see an obvious pro-level talent behind center for the Wolverines.
So what does he have to work on? I’m a grump, so let’s talk about the bad stuff! Michigan played with tempo early on in the game, and things seemed to be moving a little too fast for Underwood between snaps. He wasn’t always letting guys get set, and sometimes the motions seemed not to be timed up appropriately. Those things happen to lots of teams early in the season, but it’s hard to tell whether some of that is on Underwood, on other new players, or on the offensive coaching staff. Underwood definitely needs to do a better job of making sure his guys are set prior to the snap, but some of the timing issues are probably just due to early-season jitters and a little lack of cohesiveness. There are also things with Underwood’s footwork that need to be improved. There are times when he’s rolling out both to his left and to his right where he needs to set his feet, gain depth, and/or re-orient himself so he can make more accurate throws. He sailed a couple passes because of that, and when he rolled to his left, I got a little bit worried because it’s just a prime opportunity to be late on throws; even when a guy is “open,” by the time a quarterback can square his shoulders, sometimes that window closes, and that almost resulted in a pick on Saturday night.
Hello, Justice Haynes. Well, Justice Haynes looked like a 5-star back on Saturday. He had 16 carries for 159 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 56-yard score. He also had a 59-yard run where he got tracked down just before hitting the goal line, and a really nice cut to bounce outside for his second touchdown. (For the record, I think Haynes could have scored that second touchdown in about three different ways – bouncing to the left like he did, going straight up the middle, or bouncing outside to the right.) His blend of power and speed should lead to a very nice season, and he looks like the lead back ahead of Jordan Marshall. Marshall couldn’t really get going (11 carries, 29 yards) but still ran tough and should have some good games coming down the road.
What about the offensive line? Caveats for the opponent exist, but I thought the line played well overall. Michigan opened some gaping holes in the run game, they weren’t allowing leakage up the middle, and they mostly held up in pass protection. Underwood did take a couple sacks and got hurried a little bit, but a veteran quarterback probably throws the ball away and removes at least one of those sacks. Evan Link can move people in the run game, and New Mexico didn’t take advantage of him in pass protection. The staff did rotate both guys who were competing for the right guard spot, Nate Efobi and Brady Norton, and it did seem like Norton played better overall.
I wish Michigan didn’t give up 17 points. I thought the Wolverines would tamp down New Mexico’s offense more than they did, but the first touchdown on a trick play was a shrug-your-shoulders-event. I honestly don’t get too angry when a team runs a trick play like that and it works. It was well executed by New Mexico to be up under center, have the ball snapped on the ground to the running back, and then to have the running back pick it up and lob it to a tight end who slow released downfield. Good for them. Otherwise, they largely got their butts kicked up front, and quarterback Jack Layne got crushed repeatedly. I’m impressed that Layne lasted through the game. He finished 31/47 for 208 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions; he was sacked 3 times and took 7 hits.
I think that’s targeting. I was very disappointed that Jaishawn Barham got ejected for targeting in the second half, because that means he’ll have to miss the first half of the Oklahoma game next week. However, I don’t necessarily agree that it will be overturned. Even though Barham didn’t lead with the crown of his helmet, the first contact he made with Layne was with his facemask (“leading with the head”) and it was forcible contact to the head/neck area of a quarterback in a throwing posture. There are several different elements that can constitute targeting. Now I don’t think it was a dirty play by Barham and I think he was trying to do the right thing (he even seemed to be trying to turn his head to the side to avoid targeting), but he just didn’t quite get his posture right. I think Jimmy Rolder is going to start the game on Saturday, and Rolder played well (4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss) in Barham’s stead.
Thoughts on Chip Lindsey. Overall, I felt like Michigan’s offense was more cohesive in this game than it was last year. I probably have a higher opinion of Kirk Campbell than many, and I think Campbell was in a bad spot working with a guy who can’t throw (which QB am I talking about?!?!?! YOU CAN’T EVEN TELL!!!) and Davis Warren. (Side note: Warren and Orji attempted the same number of passes this weekend, but Warren is recovering from an ACL tear and Orji played for UNLV.) I think Campbell was trying a bunch of different things in 2024 because nothing could be consistent. But Lindsey is a legitimate offensive coordinator. Michigan can tempo or they can slow it down. They can huddle or not. They can throw screens or they can throw downfield. Michigan seemed to have a bunch of one-off plays last season, but this is an entire, cohesive offense. I really like bubble screens when there’s an offensive numbers advantage, so I appreciate Lindsey putting those in the offense. I am curious to see if/how Michigan runs the ball outside, because we didn’t see that. When they get stuffed up the middle, do they have outside zone or pin-and-pull in the arsenal? Or are bubble screens/run relief throws the answer?
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