The Michigan Wolverines returned to the bright lights of the Big House on Saturday, welcoming the New Mexico Lobos to Ann Arbor in the debut start for freshman QB Bryce Underwood. Things started out practically picture-perfect for the home team, but what had all the early makings of a route would quickly turn into a chippy, hotly contested affair.
Underwood’s command of the offense was unshakeable in the early goings. The two-time state champion out of Belleville was 7-9 for 76 yards in the first quarter, and his release on the ball looked effortless throughout the night. Whether it’s connecting on a curl, slant, or eluding the pocket to find a receiver working to the sideline in the flat, the best quality Bryce showed at such an early stage in his development is an ability to put the ball exactly where he wants to. His protection up the middle doesn’t hurt, either. Giovanni El-Hadi and Brett Crippen give their rookie signal caller a clean pocket to work from more often than not.
On the Wolverines’ first drive of the evening, this resulted in the secondary committing too heavily on coverage, rather than adjusting for Channing Goodwin crossing the formation to add a block on the right side. The result was a 56-yard house call by running back Justice Haynes to give Michigan the first points of the night. The rest of the quarter was more of the same, with the Wolverines leading 14-0.
But this is where teams in their growing phase get tested – especially when it’s the guy under center. Defenses make adjustments, and the Lobos secondary knew the assignment: blanket Bryce’s first read. Underwood’s accuracy isn’t under scrutiny here, but knowing that you can put the ball exactly where you want can also lead to forcing a bad read – and it happened on each of his next three pass attempts.
New Mexico’s offense began to open up in the second quarter as well. Aided by a fumbled punt return by Andrew Marsh late in the half, the Lobos scored 10 unanswered points approaching the two-minute warning, drawing them within a score of Michigan near halftime. Underwood’s primary struggle, aside from a bit of overconfidence in his precision, was not showing an ability to extend plays with his legs. But in the two-minute drill, that didn’t matter, as he executed a true dropback hitch to connect with Goodwin for 39 yards on 3rd & 14. Five plays later, Underwood located Marlin Klein in the endzone, giving both their first touchdowns as Wolverines.
Just when it looked as though Michigan was once again pulling away from the visiting Lobos, a game-shifting play by the Wolverines’ defense changed the script yet again. On 2nd & 1 from the New Mexico 34, Jaishawn Barham made easy work of getting past lineman Tevin Shaw, allowing the senior linebacker to get to quarterback Jack Layne for a strip sack and trip to the endzone for a defensive touchdown, or so it seemed. After review, Barham, a pillar for the Michigan defense, was called for targeting on the hit, where he made forcible contact to Layne’s head/neck with his chest and landed with his full body weight. The two factors, individually, probably wouldn’t get called. But combined? The result was a 14-point swing, as Barham would be ejected from the game, and New Mexico marched down the field to bring the score to 27-17.
Now, it’s easy to get caught up in the magic that Michigan’s new leading man put on display with his arm. But the biggest benefactor of Bryce’s huge coming-out show was his teammate in the backfield, Justice Haynes. It seems redundant to say any variation of the phrase, “Michigan has a good run game,” but when it keeps happening, you don’t really have a choice. Haynes is not the fast rusher this program has seen in recent years if you judge him on his first step. But when he can cut into a lane and hit second gear, he’ll win – big. It happened twice against the Lobos, where the junior punched through on rushes of 56 yards (Michigan’s first touchdown) and 59 yards – placing the offense at the 1-yard line to set up their last trip to the end zone of the evening.
If there’s one area where Sherrone Moore cannot be happy with his team in their first outing of the season, it’s giving up costly penalties. Barham’s ejection – which can certainly be called into question – aside, the Wolverines still committed seven penalties for 50 yards. Extending drives for the opposing offense is how you let a team like New Mexico stick around longer than they should. These are lessons for the out-of-conference schedule, and Michigan has time to learn them before Big Ten play begins.
Final: Michigan 34, New Mexico 17
