Coming off a 34-17 victory over New Mexico in the season opener, the Michigan Wolverines will get another dose of primetime this Saturday as they travel to Norman to face the Oklahoma Sooners in a ranked matchup.
The hype around the 2025 Wolverines is still fresh, but after their win over the Lobos, it’s shaping up to be a tale of two sides of the ball – a surging offense and a defense with a few holes to fill.
Underwood impresses
The debut outing for freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood was worthy of superlatives. His command of the offense, quick release and ability to make throws that range from ‘fundamental’ to ‘elite’ in difficulty is a remarkable skillset for a college player to have this early in their development. And that’s not even factoring in the toughness that he showed as a blocker.
But what is truly exciting for Michigan is that he is just that – early in his development.
Underwood’s performance was far from perfect. When asked to give himself a letter grade for the game, Bryce said “C+”, which drew a look of bemusement from his head coach. While Sherrone Moore clearly disagreed with that assessment, there’s no doubt that he, more than anyone, will be elated when this offense starts getting Underwood’s ‘A’ game.
New backfield star
The Wolverines’ new leader under center wasn’t the only member of the offense that drew rave reviews.
Running back Justice Haynes, the new feature back in Michigan’s rushing attack, set a high bar for himself to live up to this season. Haynes, who spent his first two seasons playing at Alabama, made a big first impression in Ann Arbor, rushing for 159 yards and three touchdowns on sixteen carries. Whatever Haynes lacks in elusiveness on the initial cut or first step, he more than makes up for in the combination of upper body strength and explosive speed when he gets to the second level.
It’s an ideal marriage for Michigan, whose most enduring strength from the last two seasons is arguably their guard play and overall blocking talent in the trenches. Haynes broke off two rushes of 50+ yards running behind the Michigan O-line, both of which directly resulted in 6-point plays for the Wolverines.
The Junior from Alpharetta, Ga. affirmed that games like last week are the standard he holds himself to.
“I definitely expect this out of myself,” said Haynes. “I put in a lot of work, and I’m hard on myself. I want to go watch the film and see what I could’ve done better in this game.”
Michigan linebacker Jaishawn Barham was called for targeting on this strip sack play against the Lobos. The Big Ten denied the Wolverines’ appeal and will miss action on Saturday. (Tony Patroske/TPM)
Moore returns to Oklahoma
Michigan will need that mindset of striving to reach their potential as they prepare to face Oklahoma in their first road game of the season. Sooners head coach Brent Venables knows Sherrone Moore well. The Wolverines’ head coach played guard at Oklahoma during his time as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator nearly two decades ago.
“Great leader. Ultra consistent. He was a guy that loved to compete,” Venables shared when asked about Moore’s time playing for the program. But even more illuminating was the comparison he drew for the Wolverines’ new QB after his college debut.
“He’s a little different. It reminds me a lot of Trevor Lawrence. Quick, decisive, accurate, poised, tough, consistent – there’s a reason he was the No. 1 player in America.”
Appeal denied
Venables’ remarks may appear glowing, but they also show a coach who’s been around long enough to know when to get his team focused on a big opponent early in the season. Coming off a 35-3 win over Illinois State, which saw new quarterback John Mateer produce nearly 400 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air, the Sooners will look to capitalize on a Michigan defense that let New Mexico hang around longer than they should have – and one that will be without one of its best players in linebacker Jaishawn Barham. Barham was disqualified by way of a targeting call from a strip sack play against the Lobos early in the second half.
Michigan and the Big Ten disagreed with the targeting call and subsequent suspension, arguing that Barham’s hit on the quarterback was a textbook football play, but the ruling was upheld.
“You’ve got to figure out how you want to teach tackling,” Moore said in reaction to the call and suspension of Barham. “There’s things that we definitely have to address in college football as rules just in general. We’re talking about player safety, but what about player safety for the defensive players? Because he can’t turn his head at the last moment because he might hurt himself. So, there’s things that we definitely have to uphold on both sides of the ball.”
Barham will miss the first half of the Oklahoma matchup, and Michigan will need to rely on what remaining depth they have in the defensive backfield to keep the game competitive until his return. The Wolverines secondary had a rough night in the season opener, and will look to show signs of improvement in their first road game this year.
No. 15 Michigan travels to face No. 17 Oklahoma this Saturday. Kickoff at 7:30 pm EST.
