Offense notes: Michigan frustrated with lackluster performance against stout Oklahoma defense

NORMAN, Okla. — Michigan Wolverines football freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood had a stellar debut in the 34-17 win over New Mexico to open the season, but for he and the entire offense, Saturday night’s 24-13 setback at Oklahoma was much more of a struggle.

Underwood completed just 9 of his 24 passes — a lowly 38 percent — for 142 yards. The run game wasn’t much more effective other than the 75-yard touchdown rush on the first play of the second half, which put the Wolverines down only 14-7 despite an uninspiring first 30 minutes.

“As far as handling the crowd noise, atmosphere, all that, he handled it fine,” head coach Sherrone Moore said of the 6-foot-4, 228-pound Underwood. “It was just the execution. And that’s everybody. It’s not just him. I think everybody wants to put the pressure on him, but we’ve all got to our jobs. That’s O-line, receivers, running backs, whoever it is in those situations to make it easier for him.”

Outside of Haynes’ long run and the 1 sack Underwood took, the Wolverines ran 30 times for 76 yards, an average of 2.5 yards per carry. Haynes has 3 rushes of 50-plus yards through two outings, but the consistency in the run game hasn’t been there.

“We have to establish the run game, especially with a young quarterback, but we don’t really think about him as a young guy,” graduate student tight end / fullback Max Bredeson said. “But, yeah, we have to chip away at those jab type of runs. We have to get back to those.”

“I thought we got some good rhythm,” Moore said. “There were some holes. We obviously got the big run, but we’ve just got to keep being consistent in those things. Whatever it is, how we need to do that, we will. We will fix it and just continue to get better at it.”

Michigan unable to sustain drives

Michigan had seven drives into Oklahoma territory, but only tallied 6 total points on them. A missed 32-yard kick Dominic Zvada having loomed large, but the Wolverines also failed to convert third downs when just outside of field goal range, too.

The Maize and Blue went 3-of-14 on third down and didn’t pick up a fourth-and-1 on their final possession — a disappointing display.

“When you get behind you make second and long, third and long, third and long, just harder to convert,” said Moore. “When you’re in those situations, it’s harder on third down to really convert to get that first down. That was part of it. Couple different looks. But again, it all comes down to execution.”

Additionally, the explosive plays weren’t showing up, with only 5 runs of more than 5 yards and 4 passing plays of 15-plus yards.

Michigan hit on a pair of deep passes to graduate wideout Donaven McCulley — for 38 and 44 yards — but the Wolverines didn’t have the protection nor the accuracy to hit vertical passes throughout the night.

“There are always different pieces to it,” Moore said of what was missing with Michigan’s passing game. “It’s route running, it’s spacing. If we drop a pass, was he looking at the wrong thing? We’ll take a deep dive look and see how we can get better from it.”

Oklahoma’s defense deserves credit for holding Michigan to only 288 total yards.

“I thought [head coach and defensive play-caller] Brent [Venables] did a really good job with just the looks,” Moore said. “Just the things they did, wasn’t that it was just a whole bunch of tackles for loss and things like that. It was more just getting sputtered in certain spots and just had to create a little bit more rhythm. They just did a good job defensively. They’ve got guys that have played on that defense and understand the defense. We’ve just got to do a better job of combating that.”

The frustrations were apparent all night, and even led to a heated exchange between Underwood and Haynes in the second quarter, after a drive ended in a failed third down and missed field goal.

“Right after that happened, they talked it over and they were fine,” Moore said. “It’s competitive. They’re competitors. They just both want to be right, both be on the same page. Handle it right and make good plays. 

“Just a communication error. They just both want to be right. They’re both competitors, both want to be right, and at the end of the day they figured it out, and we got it handled.”

“We’re just competitors,” Haynes reiterated. “We want to do what’s best for the team. We’re good. That’s my brother. I love him, and we’re going to be just fine.”

Next man up for Michigan

On Haynes’ long touchdown run, Michigan had seven offensive linemen in the game, and it was down the depth chart at guard. Graduate left guard Giovanni El-Hadi left the game with a lower-body injury in the first half, and junior Nathan Efobi replaced him. Sophomore Blake Frazier and graduate Lawrence Hattar joined Efobi and junior left tackle Evan Link on the left side of the unbalanced line, with the entire group blocking well, on Haynes’ long dash.

“First, with [Michigan offensive coordinator] Coach [Chip] Lindsey, great call,” Haynes said. “The offensive line blocked it great. The receivers blocked great. Tight ends, everyone blocked great. He overran it, and I saw the back side cut find me and just ran to green grass.”

The severity of El-Hadi’s injury is unknown.

“We’ll see what the week looks like and go from there,” Moore stated. “I don’t know exactly what it is right now.”

Senior tight end Marlin Klein — who posted 93 yards and a touchdown in the opener — didn’t play due to a right ankle injury. Sophomore Hogan Hansen, who missed the first game, saw time but wasn’t targeted. Michigan’s game plan was altered a bit with the absence of Klein, but Moore wasn’t ready to make excuses.

“It changed it, but next man up mentality,” he said. “We have to have that. You’re going to have a long season … guys are going to be in and out. You’re going to have to be ready to adjust. Obviously, Marlin is a really good player for us, and you don’t want anybody on your team out. But when that happens, the next man up has to go execute.”

Miscellaneous Michigan football offense notes

• Haynes’ touchdown was the longest of the season and since former Michigan running back Donovan Edwards had an 85-yard touchdown run against Ohio State in 2022.

• Michigan’s yardage total, 288, was closer to a number the Wolverines posted last season than one week ago against New Mexico, 452. In 2024, Michigan failed to hit the 300-yard mark in nine of 13 contests, making this the 10th time in Moore’s 15-game tenure that the Maize and Blue have fallen short of that threshold.

• Michigan averaged 4.9 yards per play on first down, taking out Haynes’ 75-yard touchdown run. With that run included, it was 182 yards on 23 plays, 7.9 yards per on average.

• Michigan completed only 38 percent of its passes, the program’s lowest in a game since a 23-9 loss to Nebraska Oct. 27, 2012. In that loss, quarterbacks Denard Robinson (6-of-11) and Russell Bellomy (3-of-16) combined for a 33.3-percent completion rate.

• Michigan won the rushing battle over Oklahoma, 146-138.

• The Wolverines lost the time of possession battle, 32:12 to 27:48, and ran only 56 plays compared to Oklahoma’s 74.

• Michigan has played eight ranked teams in Moore’s full-time head-coaching tenure, scoring 20-plus points in only one of them — a 27-24 victory over USC last year.