Michigan Football returned to the Big House on Saturday, opening the 2026 season with a home matchup against Western Michigan.
Unfortunately, the first game of the Kyle Whittingham era was a turbulent start that was saved by a miraculous (and questionable) finish.
The biggest question coming into the night was what Bryce Underwood would look like in Year 2 under center. The answer, much to the chagrin of Michigan fans, appears to be more of the inconsistency and unforced errors that marred his freshman season.
Underwood’s night started well, leading a 75-yard touchdown drive to start the game and showing a promising connection with JJ Buchanan, a new addition to the Wolverines receiving corps by way of Utah. But after the opening drive, Bryce and the offense sputtered and misfired for a myriad of reasons.
The first glaring issue is that this offensive line struggled with both pass protection and run blocking, allowing Western Michigan’s edge rushers to collapse the pocket quickly on passing downs and the interior of the D-line to be potent run stuffers against the likes of Marshall and Hiter.
The next problem, far less foreign to Michigan fans, was Underwood’s poor decision-making with the football. The first indicator of a potentially off night for Bryce came on the second drive of the game. On 3rd & 10 near midfield, Underwood escaped the pocket and threw a desperation ball along the sideline for Andrew Marsh, who was well covered by Jordan Thomas, forcing a deflection that found the hands of cornerback Joey Pope. If not for the fact that Thomas’ foot was out of bounds when he made contact with the ball, it would have been Bryce’s first interception of the game.
Instead, Michigan’s first turnover came less than three minutes later, when Andrew Marsh muffed the punt ahead of what would have been their third possession of the evening. The next three drives for the Wolverines would go 3-and-out, with the final drive before halftime ending in an Underwood interception that was all but destined to be a Pick 6, if not for yet another Broncos defender, this time linebacker Dillon Moore, stepping out of bounds before reaching the end zone.
The second half didn’t fare much better, as the Wolverine offense remained stymied. Western Michigan, while never reaching the goal line at any point in the game, produced more first downs and led Michigan in total yards until the final drive of the night. With a 12-7 lead in the final minute, brought on by a fumble by Underwood on a run play in UofM territory that led to a Broncos field goal, the visitors had every reason to think they were on the doorstep of a program-defining upset.
But it’s the opening weekend of the college football season, and crazy things happen in this sport when the conditions are just right. With less than ten seconds remaining in the game, Bryce threw out a Hail Mary pass with 4 seconds remaining that fell long of the target, and the Broncos quickly rushed the field believing they had earned their moment of glory on the big stage. But after a review by the officiating crew, it was ruled that Michigan had one second remaining on the clock, giving Underwood a second chance to make the Hail Mary play. The rest, as they say, is history. On a line drive 47-yard throw, Underwood delivered a ball that the surging Buchanan was able to elevate over the defenders to land with in the end zone, changing the complexion of Michigan’s season in the most dramatic walk-off the Big House has seen in a long time
Final: Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12
