Michigan handles New Mexico in Bryce Underwood's debut: Recap, box score

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines moved to 1-0 on Saturday night with a 34-17 win over the New Mexico Lobos in front of a primetime crowd at the Big House.

All eyes were on freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class, who made his first start in a Michigan uniform. He was as advertised, going 21-of-31 for 251 yards and 1 touchdown. Junior running back Justice Haynes went off in his Wolverine debut, rushing for 159 yards on 16 carries with 3 touchdowns.

Here is the full recap and box score from Saturday night’s season-opening victory.

First quarter

New Mexico won the coin toss and elected to defer, putting Underwood and the Michigan offense on the field to start the game. Underwood completed his first career pass on the first snap of the game to junior wideout Semaj Morgan for 11 yards. After a pair of runs from Justice Haynes for 4 yards, Underwood found Morgan again for a gain of 7 yards. Haynes housed his next rushing attempt, going 56 yards for his first touchdown in a Michigan uniform. The Wolverines led 7-0 after Dominic Zvada‘s extra point with 12:56 left in the quarter.

The Lobos could not get anything going on their next offensive drive, going three-and-out and punting to Morgan, who muffed a 53-yard punt. However, Michigan recovered and started its next drive at the 27-yard line with 11:12 to go in the quarter. The Wolverines marched down the field on their second drive of the game in workmanlike fashion, going 78 yards in 13 plays and scoring a touchdown on a Haynes run from 5 yards out, sprung by an Underwood block. Zvada pushed the lead to 14-0 on the extra point with 4:26 left in the quarter. The back-to-back scores were the first time Michigan had achieved that since winning the national title over Washington on Jan. 8, 2024.

New Mexico responded with another three-and-out, punting back to the Wolverines to the 23-yard line after a 1-yard return. Michigan responded with 5 plays for 25 yards and was facing a fourth and 1 from their own 48, but elected to punt. Hudson Hollenbeck booted it into the end zone, allowing the Lobos to start their next drive at their 20-yard line with 19 seconds remaining.

The quarter would run out with New Mexico facing a second and 6 from their 24-yard line.

Michigan 14, New Mexico 0

Second quarter

New Mexico’s drive ended after 25 yards in 7 plays, punting down to the Michigan 29-yard line with 11:27 left in the first half. U-M answered with its first three-and-out of the night, punting to New Mexico’s 29-yard line with 10:22 to go. It took all of one play for the Wolverines to get back, thanks to an athletic interception from fifth-year defensive end TJ Guy, setting the Wolverines up on the 17-yard line.

Michigan would sputter again after 5 plays for 14 yards, but a 21-yard field goal from Zvada extended the lead to 17-0 with 8:21 left on the clock. The Lobos started their next drive on their 18-yard line.

What followed was a momentum-changing drive in the first half. New Mexico went 82 yards in 12 plays and scored a touchdown on a fake field goal – a pass from running back DJ McKinney to tight end Dorian Thomas – to cut the lead to 17-7 after the extra point with 2:23 to go. On the ensuing kickoff, freshman Andrew Marsh fumbled the ball away to the Lobos, who took over at the Michigan 29-yard line. The drive went nowhere, but allowed New Mexico to put 3 more points on the board on a 44-yard field goal. U-M’s lead was cut to 17-10 with 1:56 left in the first half.

Underwood provided a shot in the arm on the two-minute drill, hitting sophomore wide receiver Channing Goodwin on a 39-yard post on third-and-14 to set Michigan up for points before the half. The drive closed with a 15-yard completion to tight end Marlin Klein in the end zone, giving No. 19 his first passing touchdown in a Michigan uniform. The Wolverines took a 24-10 lead on the 8-play, 75-yard drive, which is how the half would end after a New Mexico kneel-down with 21 seconds left.

Michigan 24, New Mexico 10

Third quarter

New Mexico started the second half with the football and gained 16 yards on its first play from scrimmage. The momentum was short-lived, though. The Lobos lost 2 yards on their next 3 plays and punted to Michigan, which was downed at the U-M 6-yard line with 13:06 on the clock.

Underwood and Michigan went 73 yards in 9 plays before stalling out, settling instead for a 39-yard Zvada field goal with 10:19 to go. On U-M’s next defensive series, linebacker Jaishawn Barham got into the NM backfield for a sack-fumble touchdown. The review showed the quarterback was down, and Barham was ejected for targeting with 9:32 to go. Unless an appeal goes through, Barham will miss the first half of next week’s game at Oklahoma.

Michigan’s defense could not regain its momentum after the swing, which allowed New Mexico to regain some momentum via a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a 3-yard touchdown pass to Thomas, his second of the night. Michigan’s lead was cut to 27-17 with 1:40 to go in the third quarter. The Wolverines went three-and-out on the next drive, punting to New Mexico to their 41-yard line with 10 seconds left in the quarter before the clock ran out.

Michigan 27, New Mexico 17

Fourth quarter

New Mexico faced a fourth-and-9 from its own 42-yard line and elected to go for it, which ended in an interception for junior safety Brandyn Hillman with 13:30 to go in the game. Michigan would start its next offensive drive at its own 20-yard line. U-M flexed its quick-strike offense again thanks to a 59-yard run from Haynes down to the 1-yard line, then closing out the drive with his third touchdown of the night to push the lead back up to 34-17 after the extra point with 10:14 to go.

New Mexico put together an 8-play, 58-yard drive before sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan intercepted the Lobos at the 3-yard line with 6:54 to go. Michigan went three-and-out for the third time and punted to the New Mexico 44-yard line with 4:53 remaining. The Lobos went four-and-out on the series, losing a yard and turning the ball over on downs at their 43-yard line with 3:46 to go. U-M went for it on fourth-and-2 from the 35-yard line, but Underwood was sacked at the 38 and turned it over on downs with 2:09 remaining.

The clock would ultimately run out on the Lobos with junior linebacker Troy Bowles nabbing a sack in the red zone to end the game. Michigan picked up its first win of the year, and now face a week of cleaning things up before a trip to Norman, Okla.

Michigan vs. New Mexico: Box score, final stats