Michigan handled New Mexico, 34-17, in a somewhat strange game Saturday night, and the offense looked good … at times. Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood was everything advertised and more and Justice Haynes was the breakaway threat promised — here’s a detailed look at what we learned after watching the film a few times. 

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First off, it was clear from the get-go Underwood was comfortable in a complicated offense. We’re not sure which page of the playbook they made it to, but what we saw from offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey was more complex that anything we’ve seen in a long, long time. 

It was evident from the first play, a swing pass to Semaj Morgan with solid blocking on the perimeter from Channing Goodwin and Donaven McCulley (who were both good in these roles for most of the game). The second play, a short gain for Haynes, could have been a really nice gain had he been more patient (see the room to his right below). 

Our analyst, Doug Skene, noted three or four times the backs missed opportunities, and this might have been one of them. Other times, including a Haynes run on the third drive of the game, others missed assignments. Receiver Fred Moore ran by an unblocked linebacker and what should have been a six-yard gain was only two. 

In short, it wasn’t only the offensive line to blame for “all the other short runs” besides Haynes’ two big gallops, and often it wasn’t. Many were worried about the line again going by the numbers and the fact that there were several minimal gains, but the five up front were much more violent, in tune with each other than anything we saw last year. 

On Haynes touchdown, for example, the right side picked up a linebacker who would have gotten a run-through tackle for loss a year ago. Instead, there was a huge hole, and Haynes made it untouched to the second level and used his speed to cut outside and finish. 

The line also did a really nice job picking up stunts and twist games, which New Mexico had to resort to in the absence of speed rushers on the edge. Oklahoma is going to be a much bigger challenge here, and there were times Michigan tackles Evan Link and Andrew Sprague would probably have been beaten on the outside — a couple times Sprague was, though it wasn’t as bad as many made it seem — if they were playing better competition. 

But they were much more violent from the get-go. On one of Marshall’s bigger runs, a 5-yarder early, Sprague finished with a pancake and let the defender know about it. Right guard Brady Norton held his own — he was the better of the two [Nate Efobi], though both were solid — and Michigan center Greg Crippen and left guard Gio El-Hadi were both using their added weight well.

Michigan fullback Max Bredeson … well, wrecked everyone. Follow him, and it’s a guaranteed two yards, but we loved that they didn’t telegraph where they were going with the ball with him. Once, even, he faked a block on a pull and caught a short pass on a route.

Other thoughts:  

We felt a bit bad for Jordan Marshall, who really wasn’t given much room to move. They had him in there on all the read stuff, and it seemed pretty clear there was a mandate on Underwood not to run. As they kept handing to him, defensive ends kept crashing — if Underwood had kept just one late in the game he’d still be running (maybe we see it next week?) — there was just nowhere to go. 

But you do these and other things to set up others plays for later in the game … and, maybe, other games. Underwood, for example, caught frosh Andrew Marsh off guard when a defender bit on what looked like another wing pass to Morgan. He wasn’t ready for it, or it might have been six. 

Underwood, though, looked like he’d been running the offense for years. We counted six RPOs in the first half alone, and many of them resulted in nice gains, including a nice throw to tight end Marlin Klein. The best one to him, of course, was from the shadow of the end zone and showed exactly what we can expect from Lindsey. The touch pass over the defense would have been three runs and either a first down or a punt last year. 

Other observations: 

• This easily could have been a 21-0 game in the first quarter, game over. Fredrick Moore’s drop on first down led to a punt, but the Wolverines should have gone for it on fourth and one from the 47. Score there and it saps their will. Sherrone Moore said he punted because the defense was playing so well — that’s probably the reason he should have gone for it. Marshall behind Bredeson and the line would have been able to pick up a yard. 

• New Mexico played well off the Michigan receivers for most of the game. We doubt many other teams, including Oklahoma, are going to give them the same respect. It’s going to be interesting to see if they can get the same separation they did Saturday, and how Lindsey responds if they do. 

• Underwood really only put a couple passes in harm’s way. One was a roll out left, and while the ability to roll him either way is what makes him all the more dangerous, he needs to be careful about throwing back across the body like he did on an attempt for McCulley. 

He was also fortunate he had a third-down pass tipped at the goal line, or it probably would have been picked. It initially looked like he was going short to Bredeson, but upon further review, he might have been going back corner of the end zone with very little loft on the ball and two defenders in the areas. He had McCulley alone in the middle of the end zone on the same play, too, but didn’t have time to survey the field. 

That’s all the negative we’ll say about the quarterback. He’s going to be elite, though Oklahoma will tell us much, much more. The two-minute drill, the third and 14 pass was a strike with great route concepts (we’ve missed that) to clear room.

The TD to Klein was a great route, too, on the up and out, and set up by several of his earlier routes that got the linebacker comfortable.

• While McCulley got all the praise in the preseason, Goodwin looked more polished. He’s got a bright future. Again, we’ll see if these guys are challenged more by the Oklahoma defensive backs and suspect teams will try to get physical with them, but not a bad start. 

We do hope Michigan sophomore tight end Hogan Hansen is back this weekend to give Underwood another capable receiving target. 

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