After an offseason full of both question marks and anticipation, fans finally got a look at Michigan’s new offense on Saturday when the Wolverines defeated New Mexico, 34-17. Understandably, much of the excitement was centered around true freshman Bryce Underwood and the hope of a revamped passing attack.
While Michigan did look much better through the air than it did a year ago, it was still the running game — and Alabama transfer Justice Haynes, specifically — that stole the show.
The new running
back emerged as one of the star players for Michigan’s offense on Saturday, tallying 16 carries for 159 yards and three touchdowns. His 159 rushing yards are a career-high for him and were the most by a player making their Michigan debut since 1970.
Right from the start, you could tell something was different with Michigan’s offense. The early use of tempo and pre-snap motion were a big departure from the norms of last year’s offense. Michigan found itself near midfield after just five plays on the opening series before Haynes broke free for his first big run of the season — a 56-yard touchdown on which he showed some great burst and breakaway speed counter to his normal bruising style.
“A hole opened up well and then I saw green grass, ran to the green grass,” Haynes said.
Haynes tacked on another touchdown just a few minutes later, helping give Michigan a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
In breaking out like he did and being featured as a big piece of the offense in Week 1, Michigan and new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey made it clear the running game is still going to be a big part of Michigan’s identity. Even with a much better passing attack, Michigan showed it still has the ability to be a smash mouth team.
Heading into the year, some concerns about the offensive line still lingered after last season’s subpar performance from the group. That might have given fans some pause in thinking the run game could return to its dominant ways, but Haynes felt it was their effort on Saturday that enabled him to have the performance he did.
“Couldn’t do it without the offensive line,” Haynes said, while also giving shoutouts to the receivers and tight ends for helping spur some of his runs. Even Underwood got in on the action, throwing a block on Haynes’ second touchdown run in the first quarter.
Perhaps the breakout performance from Haynes came as a shock to some. After all, he’d only been featured as part of a running back committee during his time at Alabama. After this game, though, he’s already over a quarter of the way toward reaching his rushing total (448) and touchdown total (7) from 2024. It doesn’t appear he caught anyone inside the program off guard though, as those on the inside knew what he was capable of.
“It’s something we’ve seen,” head coach Sherrone Moore said. “Something we’ve seen in the spring, something we’ve seen in the summer, we saw in fall camp. I said it to the staff on Thursday, ‘I don’t know when it’s going to be, but he’s going to break a 50-yard run and he’s going to be gone.’”
Moore was right, as Haynes broke loose for not one, but two runs of at least 50 yards, with the second coming in the fourth quarter to set up his third and final touchdown of the night. The praise didn’t stop there, as Marlin Klein was impressed as well.
“That’s what I’ve been seeing from (Haynes) since he got to Michigan,” Klein said. “He had a great game, and I hope this is what he’s going to do for the rest of the year.”
Haynes got the start, something he said he didn’t know would happen until Friday. Still, he views himself as part of a committee, mentioning both he and Jordan Marshall are “1A and 1B.” Marshall didn’t have the same success as Haynes on Saturday (29 yards on 11 carries), but still figures to be a major piece of the rushing attack.
Michigan will have its work cut out for it next week when it heads to Norman to take on a ranked SEC opponent in Oklahoma. The Wolverines will be hoping Haynes and the rushing attack can keep the offense on tracks as the level of difficulty ramps up quickly.
