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Michigan

Best and worst from Michigan's win over New Mexico

michigan-icon-fullby: The Wolverine Staff08/31/25thewolverineon3
Justice Haynes
Michigan Wolverines football running back Justice Haynes ran for 3 touchdowns in a win over New Mexico. (Photo by Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

By Clayton Sayfie

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football handled New Mexico, 34-17, to open the 2025 season. Here are the best and worst from Saturday night, as we hand out superlatives from the game.

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Michigan had a year off from possessing a productive passing game, but that long nightmare appears over. Quarterback Bryce Underwood doesn’t just want to be good for a freshman — he wants to show he’s great now. There’s a long way to go, but that’s certainly possible for the 6-foot-4, 228-pound Detroit native.

Underwood connected on 21 of his 31 passes for 251 yards and his first career touchdown, an 8-yard flick to senior tight end Marlin Klein, who’s emerged as his favorite target.

The Wolverines’ 251 passing yards are the most they’ve had in a game since totaling 335 in a 41-13 victory over Purdue Nov. 4, 2023. Last season, their highest in a game was 208, and there were four contests with fewer than 100.

This is just a different ball game. ‘Refreshing’ describes watching Underwood make the simple plays, but his night wasn’t limited just to that. He dazzled with some bullet passes, putting the appropriate touch on others, and athletic moves. He wasn’t even asked to run, either, and that’s an aspect of his game that he’s more than adept at.

The sky’s the limit for Underwood.

Clearly ‘1A’

Junior Justice Haynes didn’t find out until Friday that he’d be starting at running back. It doesn’t matter that much, after all, since the Wolverines have a ‘1a and 1b’ backfield with Haynes and sophomore Jordan Marshall.

But there’s a reason why Haynes got the start, and he showed it Saturday night. He’s clearly the ‘1a,’ rushing for 159 yards and 3 touchdowns on 16 attempts. He broke off a 56-yard touchdown on the first drive, and dashed for 59 yards to set up another score later on.

Marshall wasn’t as productive, going for 29 yards on 11 carries. They’ll both be relied upon heavily throughout the season, but Haynes is the No. 1 for now.

Living up to the hype

In the lead-up to the season, head coach Sherrone Moore couldn’t mention breakout players without talking about sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan. The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder “completely changed his body,” according to coordinator Wink Martindale, putting in the work necessary to put him in position to play a role on defense.

Sullivan showed why he’s been the talk of the Wolverines’ underclassmen this offseason, registering a sack on fourth down and an interception in the fourth quarter to end any New Mexico hope.

His pick was an athletic play, and the way he went up and got the football made him look like a defensive back.

Favorite target

Klein had a big night. After reeling in 13 receptions last season, Klein recorded 6 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown on 9 targets against the Lobos. He ran great routes, got open and made plays with the ball in his hands. Four of his 6 catches went for either a first down or touchdown.

Michigan’s receiving corps has to prove itself much further, but Klein’s emergence is key. Sophomore tight end Hogan Hansen may help out whenever he returns from injury, but Klein is going to have a massive role regardless, and he showed Saturday night he’s worthy of it.

Worst stretch

Michigan scored touchdowns on its first two drives, but there was a lull in the middle of the game, and it started with a dropped pass.

Underwood had junior wide receiver Fredrick Moore open and put the ball on the money. Moore couldn’t hang on, however, which stunted a drive. The Wolverines decided to punt on fourth-and-1 from their own 48-yard line, disappointing the fans in attendance.

Senior Hudson Hollenbeck‘s punt went into the end zone for a touchback, making the decision to boot it away even more questionable. Michigan’s offense went three-and-out its next time on the field, before going 5 plays, 14 yards on a short field to settle for a field goal.

One thing doesn’t necessarily lead to the next, but the offensive rhythm was definitely interrupted. The Wolverines also had a turnover on a kick return after the defense allowed a long touchdown drive, hurting the flow.

Trend to watch

Michigan had 28 first-down plays on offense, and it was perfectly balanced between run (14) and pass (14).

The Wolverines had games last season where it was so lopsided toward the run that it made it tougher to pound the rock. The unpredictability of this offense will take the pressure off everybody, including the linemen who won’t line up across from defenders who know they’re one-dimensional.

Biggest mistake

Freshman wide receiver Andrew Marshfandrew got the nod as Michigan’s starting kick returner. It’s a great position for a freshman to get their feet wet, unless they make a big mistake. Luckily for Marsh, his fumble didn’t lead to a loss, but it did hurt the Wolverines’ rhythm in the first half, and it led to New Mexico points, a field goal that made it a one-score game again.

Overall, Michigan did a great job taking care of the ball on offense. Underwood kept it out of harm’s way outside of one or two throws, and he didn’t turn it over in his first start.

Best dart

Underwood fired one in to sophomore wide receiver Channing Goodwin that sparked a two-minute drill score just before half, breaking Michigan out of its offensive slump. The Wolverines went up 24-10 at the break, and had much more momentum coming out of the locker room.

By the way, that 39-yard gain by Goodwin was the longest pass play Michigan has had since the 2023 season. It was also 1 yard shy of the 40-yard mark, and the Wolverines notably were the only team in America to not have a 40-plus yard pass last season.

Most athletic big man

The Wolverines forced 3 turnovers. Sullivan’s pick and an interception by junior safety Brandyn Hillman down the field on fourth down were two of the three, with the other being a big-man pick. Graduate EDGE TJ Guy, at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, grabbed the ball out of the air after Jack Layne‘s pass hit the back of one of his offensive lineman’s helmet. That led to a Michigan field goal in the first half.

It was one athletic play by Guy, who also added 1 tackle.

Questionable call

One moment, Michigan senior linebacker Jaishawn Barham was celebrating with the ‘Turnover Buffs’ following a strip-sack touchdown. The next, he was being escorted off the field due to a targeting ejection.

Since the play occurred in the second half, Barham will miss the first half of next week’s game against Oklahoma, unless Michigan wins an appeal. The Wolverines do plan to appeal, Moore said, so there’s a possibility the suspension could be nullified.

The call was questionable, since he didn’t lead with the crown of his helmet, and the contact didn’t seem to be forcible contact to the head or neck area.

However, if there’s a position Michigan can afford to lose a player, it might be linebacker. Seniors Ernest Hausmann and Jimmy Rolder are veterans, along with a breakout talent in Sullivan. It’s one of the best and deepest position groups on the team.

Biggest work in progress

Michigan’s offensive line didn’t have a great day, and the Wolverines are still trying to find the best combination of starters.

In addition to the starters, junior Nathan Efobi and sophomore Blake Frazier saw significant snaps at right guard and right tackle, respectively. The plan was for Frazier to play, but he did come in the game right after starter and sophomore right tackle Andrew Sprague made a couple mistakes, making us wonder if 1) either Sprague was struggling to the point of letting Frazier have a crack at it or 2) Sprague got banged up during the game.

The Wolverines had a few breakdowns in pass protection, and while there were some gaping holes on a few rushes, the run blocking wasn’t very consistent. Between Haynes and Marshall, a combined 17 of their 27 non-touchdown rushes went for 3 yards or fewer.

Michigan’s offensive line is still growing, and the rotation needs to shrink at some point.

Up-and-down defensive showing

Michigan’s defense started strong, forcing two three-and-outs, but there were some warts displayed at different points throughout the night.

New Mexico went on a 12-play, 82-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, before marching 75 yards for a score on 15 plays in the third. The Lobos moved the ball quite a bit at the beginning of the fourth, too, before the Sullivan pick ended their scoring chances.

Michigan was hit with a lot of screen passes, and that’s honestly a show of respect. The Wolverines are tough to deal with traditionally, so New Mexico stuck to some misdirection, screens and even a trick play that went for a touchdown.

Additionally, one of the biggest question marks on the unit was replacing two top-13 NFL Draft pick defensive tackles, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, and the interior of the defensive line didn’t have as many big plays as the rest of the defense. Cornerback is also a concern, and junior Jyaire Hill was beat on a few plays, including a pass interference in the end zone and subsequent touchdown.

Michigan kept things pretty basic, though, including playing soft coverage. There weren’t any big plays — none over 25 yards — which is a positive.

Another bright spot was just the sheer number of defenders who flashed. Three players had interceptions, three had sacks and nine had at least a half-TFL. There were both starters and backups who shined and made big plays, which bodes well. The strength of this defense is its depth.

All in all, New Mexico amassed only 267 yards, only had a few productive drives and needed some spectacular plays to score.

Best trick play

Michigan kept things basic in a lot of regards, while New Mexico had to do everything it could to stay in the game. Here was a pretty incredible trick play for a touchdown.