What we learned from Michigan’s 34-17 victory about New Mexico

The Michigan Wolverines had a week 1 of ups and downs against the wolves of New Mexico in the 34-17 victory. The positive thing was that the game was never really in any doubt. The end of the first half was the time when it could have entered a problematic place. Instead, Michigan’s offensive executed a perfect two -minute trip and recovered an advantage of two possessions before the break.

Simultaneously, I think that almost all attached to this program would tell you that there could be and should have dominated more. The team played with its food, particularly in a second almost disastrous quarter, when they had the opportunity to bury New Mexico early. The passes, penalties and special teams left in danger endangered this game.

Today, we will focus on some of the elements we learned from this contest, without reacting exaggerated to a single game.

Bryce Underwood has “that”

There are moments in the life where you see some do what they should do in life, and are among the best in the world. Think of Tom Cruise with acting (and aging), LeBron James with basketball and Whitney Houston with singing. Seeing them act is fascinating because they have an effortless talent in what they do. It is as if they were placed in this land specifically for their profession.

Although it is early, the true first -year field marshal Bryce Underwood showed that it has a similar “IT” factor in its first start. Just watching the ball out of your hands makes you stop and think about your potential.

His Saturday was far from being perfect; He threw a couple of balls behind the receptors and lost his windows for just a second. At the same time, it seemed that every pass he made hit a square of a receiver in his hands and in a place where only someone who wore a winged helmet could catch him. Some of those were not simply trapped, since Pro Football Focus told four drops of Michigan receptors.

When the pressure was lit at the end of the first half, Underwood was 5 of 5 for 68 yards and a touchdown. Every time the game asked him to take a step forward, he did it at the elite level. There is a strong argument that should be made that it was the best player in the field, and has just turned 18 11 days before.

There is still much to learn about your game, particularly how you will perform on the way, how much the offensive will ask you to use your legs and the different types of passes that you will need to launch (particularly those who need a little more contact). But for all purposes, Michigan’s fans obtained a first look at+ of what could be a truly special talent in the field marshal position for the next three years, and that should make everyone dizzy.

The schematic impact of Lindsey Chip is evident

Michigan was desperate for a change in the offensive. The success of the offensive in 2024 was strictly one -dimensional, with a threat close to zero from air. They were classified among the four lower teams in the country in air yards per game, and the other three teams were service academies. Smash-Mouth football is the name of the game in Michigan, but the Wolverines needed a notable improvement and a better game call to help facilitate it.

ENTER: Chip Lindsey. We have already discussed the impact of Underwood, but Linsey certainly obtains some credit for how good it was seen and for the potential we saw of this team offensively. Michigan had 452 yards against New Mexico, 251 passing 31 passes and 201 running in 32 races. This is how these statistics are broken compared to last year:

They also had a 39 -yard pass play, which was longer than any completion they had in 2024. Not only that, but a few falls and a special turnover of the teams in the second quarter took two opportunities where they could easily have exceeded 500 yards at night.

Lindsey changed staff, played with the strengths of his weapons and elaborated multiple formations that gave him different from the appearance of New Mexico. When things cooked, the team moved with some tempo, setting positional advantages in the field for the Wolverines, which led to big plays.

There is a lot of creativity, I am sure that it is still in the bag, and the training wheels were lit for early Underwood, where I did not have many opportunities to emit the ball. But the base of what Michigan showed was a breath of fresh air.

We still don’t know what orientation is …

I mean, this call was ridiculous.

Michigan will attract to see if he can recover his star supporter during the first half against the Sooners.