Game balls from Michigan's blowout win over Central Michigan

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines grabbed a dominant and decisive win over Central Michigan on Saturday, demolishing the Chippewas by a score of 63-3.

With head coach Sherrone Moore suspended for this week and next, an emphasis was put on this week’s game and building some momentum heading into the road trip at Nebraska. 600-plus yards of offense later, it can walk out of the Big House knowing it accomplished that.

There were plenty of standout performances in Saturday’s contest. Here are the best of them with some honorable mentions.

Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood

Michigan fans have been screaming from the mountaintops to unleash their freshman quarterback. It did just that on Saturday with Bryce Underwood accounting for 349 yards of total offense with 3 touchdowns. He went 16-of-25 for 235 yards with a touchdown and his first career interception and tacked on 9 rushes for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The rushing total in particular is inspiring because it showed a willingness to get him the ball and use his full skillset in space. It remains to be seen how much of that they will call on moving forward, but it is now on film and in the team’s repertoire. Underwood is too good a runner not to lean on it, and it had effects on the run game as a whole. This was a big step forward for the Michigan signal-caller in his third career start.

Running backs Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall

When you have the type of day Michigan did offensively, it lends itself to a lot of love to go around. The Wolverines got Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall going on Saturday, combining for 24 carries for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns. Haynes went over 100 yards for the third week in a row with 14 carries for 104 yards, averaging 7.4 yards per carry with a long of 20. He had a 70-yard run negated by a holding penalty, too. As a team, Michigan did a much better job with some of the “body blow” type of runs, which will be needed next week at Nebraska.

Senior linebacker Jaishawn Barham

Michigan unleashed a new wrinkle on its defense this week with Jaishawn Barham getting the start, and almost all of his snaps, at the EDGE spot. He was dominant from the jump there, racking up 6 total tackles and 2 sacks on the afternoon. Barham came out of the game early in the second half after he appeared to take a shot below the waist. Barham has been a star early this season, and Saturday saw him deployed differently than we have before. That could be quite the boost to Michigan’s pass rush moving forward.

Honorable mentions

Freshman running back Jasper Parker: 9 carries, 45 yards, first-career touchdown

Junior running back Bryson Kuzdzal: 5 carries, 30 yards, first-career touchdown

Freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh: 53 yards of total offense (30 receiving, 23 rushing), first-career touchdown

Junior wide receiver Semaj Morgan: 4 catches, 69 yards, touchdown

Sophomore defensive lineman Manuel Beigel: First career fumble recovery

Freshman defensive back Elijah Dotson: First career interception in the third quarter