Where do I even begin with this one?
I’m not going to give you a detailed summary of that game. You watched it. We all watched it. It was ugly. Even despite the win.
So rather than trying to give you a play-by-play description of every single thing that happened over the course of Michigan’s controversial scraped-out-of-the-bottom-of-the-pint win over Western Michigan — a game that at times bore more resemblance to two first-graders wrestling on the playground at recess over a stolen juice box than a bout
between two Division 1 football programs — I’ll just go ahead and list every single thing Wolverines fans need to be concerned about going into Week 2.
Bryce Underwood
Ecstasy of the controversial final play aside, this was more of the same as what we saw in 2025 from Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood, and perhaps that’s the most frustrating takeaway from Saturday night.
He didn’t throw downfield much, and when he did, it often was an errant throw into double or triple coverage. He seemed afraid to use his legs. He held onto the ball too much. His decision-making skills somehow got worse as the game progressed, with him locking onto his first read repeatedly — something you’d have seen him do week in, week out if you watched the Wolverines last year.
This all culminated in a two-turnover, sub-200 yard performance. I’m not on the Tommy Carr train — or should I say, car? — just yet. Not even close. But a year into what was supposed to be a messianic deliverance of Michigan to the promised land of the College Football Playoff for Underwood, it’s hard not to be a little concerned.
The offensive line
The Wolverines’ offensive line has been a work in progress for what feels like the last three years now. And even though that was the expectation going into 2026, that doesn’t make what we saw on Saturday night any less concerning.
Michigan got bullied in the offensive trenches, with the quickly-collapsing pockets feeding into Underwood’s worst instincts, and the inability to open rushing lanes paralyzing the offense as a whole (more on that later.) I’m curious to see if things improve once former five-star Andrew Babalola suits up, but there wasn’t a lot to like.
The tight ends
This isn’t as debilitating as some of the other issues with the team, but it’s worth mentioning anyway. The Wolverines have been able to lean on tight ends Colston Loveland and Marlin Klein in the last few years as a safety blanket. Michigan didn’t find that same net on Saturday, as tight end Jalen Hoffman turned in an underwhelming outing in which he was primarily deployed as a blocker (and not necessarily to great effect.)
The run game
This goes hand in hand with the offensive line, but this was perhaps my biggest disappointment of the night. The Wolverines entered the night with what was expected to be one of the best 1-2 punches in the Big Ten in Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter. Instead, they combined for 16 carries and 59 yards. This is a two-way street, of course: given the inability of the offensive line to run block, I wasn’t expecting much from Hiter, who relies on speed and vision, and is a freshman after all. But Marshall, who struggled to break through contact or exploit his strength, was a bigger concern.
The run defense
On paper, Michigan allowing 46 carries for 159 yards isn’t necessarily catastrophic. But I think it has more to do with what exactly the Broncos did when they were pounding the rock. Western Michigan was routinely able to hand the ball off just to extend a drive or chew clock, and the Wolverines didn’t have an answer despite the presence of some standout performances on defense. This was particularly concerning on WMU’s 20-play drive that took up nearly 14 minutes of game clock from the third quarter into the fourth quarter.
The special teams
A rough outing on the whole, but especially for the return teams. Andrew Marsh looked mightily uncomfortable every time he was on the other end of a punt, and the outcome was Michigan frequently pinned deep inside its own half, forced to go long on every drive.
So there you have it. A roundup of the long, long list of things that went wrong Saturday night. What concerned you the most? Let me know in the comments below!
