The Michigan Wolverines’ spring football period came to a close on Saturday when the Maize team took down the Blue team, 7-6, at the Big House. With Kyle Whittingham and his staff getting the first opportunity to show off their new digs for fans, this game had a few highlights, but also plenty of things that are concerns heading into the fall.
Here are three things we learned from the game and what has been said throughout camp.
The defense is ahead of the offense
If you had told me the defense would absolutely dominate the offense in this
game, I would have been rather surprised, especially with the parameters in place for the offense to succeed. Bryce Underwood was playing on both teams and brought back several key weapons and offensive linemen. On top of that, the defense was not allowed to blitz and mostly stayed in base coverage; they weren’t allowed to tackle in the first quarter and couldn’t hit quarterbacks the whole game.
With how dynamic Jason Beck’s offense was at Utah last season, I expected them to feast and put up points in the first quarter. Instead, Michigan’s defensive line wrecked the game from start to finish. The offensive line wasn’t getting much push up front, leading to running backs Jordan Marshall and Bryson Kuzdzal having to change course in the backfield and running through guys to make it look like they could have picked up big yards during the “thud” period, and then Underwood and all of the quarterbacks were consistently under pressure. That, leading to some poor decision-making, was why Underwood looked so poor in his 3-for-9 passing performance.
It’s a huge credit to Jay Hill and the defense for the way they played despite the guardrails. The defensive line from top to bottom was fantastic and the secondary kept everything in front of them. But if they can get an offense to stutter the way they did in this spring game, confidence on that side of the ball should be really high.
Tommy Carr is, at minimum, a solid backup for 2026
My, and everyone’s, largest takeaway was the play from freshman quarterback Tommy Carr. Michigan’s offense did nothing with Underwood behind center. But once the second unit came in and tackling was introduced, Carr was impressive.
He finished 15-of-23 for 113 yards with Maize team, and was 6-of-7 for 30 yards with the Blue team, carrying the ball a total of 10 times for 67 yards. Even with the rushing yards being a little inflated because Carr couldn’t be hit, what really stood out was his decision-making. It’s clear he has spent a considerable amount of time with his coaches to quickly learn the scheme. He was reading RPOs quite well, making snappy decisions when getting the ball out of his hands, and showcasing what he can do with his legs, something I’m not sure many had picked up on during his recruitment.
If Underwood goes down, the season is likely over no matter what. But Carr showed enough that there should be some excitement about his future with the Wolverines. The tea leaves of LSU transfer Colin Hurley departing the program mid-spring are a good indication that this staff believes they may have found something in Carr, and it wouldn’t be shocking if he winds up starting games at some point.
Michigan has its work cut out for it on the offensive side of the ball
Trying my hardest to take what we saw on Saturday with a grain of salt, but outside of a trio of freshmen — Carr, Savion Hiter and Salesi Moa — there was very little to be excited about for what Michigan showed on offense.
My No. 1 overall concern is Underwood, and it’s not because of one bad performance, but the fact he was making the same mistakes he made in big games last season. His footwork and mechanics were off, and tried to zip balls between defenders in tight coverage. He also overshot a receiver with too much zip on an out route, and he held the ball for too long in the pocket.
Part of the reason Carr impressed was he was the antithesis of all of that — quick decisions, a clear understanding of the offense, and not trying to do too much. Underwood is still only 18, but he has quite a bit of growing to do before this fall.
There is also quite a bit of work to be done with the offensive line. Michigan didn’t have that lean you need from the big fellas up front, especially on the goal line or in short-yardage situations. People justifiably praised Hiter’s power and fight on this play, but what I see is three maize defenders blowing up the line of scrimmage.
From all accounts, there is a ton of work to be done on offense before any kind of real expectations can be put on this team, and it all must be done in the next few months.
