Michigan has spent its first two weeks looking every bit like a team that can win with force, not flash. The Wolverines are 2-0 after taking down Oklahoma and Western Michigan, and both of those opponents came in with 10-plus wins from last season. That matters because the test doesn’t get softer from here: three more teams on Michigan’s 2026 schedule fit that same mold, with Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State all listed among the heavier hitters.
The win over No. 11 Oklahoma carried extra weight beyond the final score.
It was Michigan’s first home victory over a ranked opponent since a 27-24 win over No. 11 USC in 2024, and it also pushed the Wolverines to 3-2 against ranked SEC teams over the last four seasons.
Those wins have come against No. 4 Alabama in the 2023 Rose Bowl, No.
11 Alabama in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl and the Sooners, with losses to No. 3 Texas in 2024 and No.
18 Oklahoma in 2025.
Now comes a first-time matchup: Michigan and UTEP have never faced each other before.
The offense has leaned into the run game early, which fits the profile of coordinator Jason Beck. Beck is in his fourth year as an offensive coordinator, and his recent units have piled up yards in a hurry - top-five nationally in both rushing and total offense in back-to-back seasons at New Mexico and Utah.
Michigan has followed a similar path so far. The Wolverines finished 14th in rushing last season at 210.2 yards per game, and three of their four offensive touchdowns this year have come on the ground.
That ground game showed up against Oklahoma, too. Michigan ran for 152 yards against a defense that allowed just 77.3 yards per game last season.
Bryce Underwood has been a big part of that production. He has two of Michigan’s three rushing touchdowns this season and eight for his career, and when sacks are taken out of the equation, he’s averaging 5.5 yards per carry in his career - 94 rushes for 525 yards - including 24 carries for 134 yards in 2026.
His 38-yard touchdown run was the longest rush of any kind in his career, topping the 33-yard run he had against Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl last year.
Up front, Michigan has leaned on a group that’s already gotten plenty of game reps. Evan Link has 19 starts, with 18 at tackle, while right tackle Andrew Sprague has 15. Center Jake Guarnera has 13 starts, including 11 at guard, and left tackle Blake Frazier has 10.
There’s also been movement in the receiving corps. JJ Buchanan made his first start as a Wolverine against Western Michigan and turned it into a breakout day, setting career highs with six catches and 126 receiving yards while leading Michigan in both categories. He finished the job with a 47-yard touchdown catch as time expired.
Andrew Marsh has also been part of the early passing game. The sophomore wideout already has five catches after a rookie season in which he totaled 45 receptions for 651 yards and four touchdowns. Last year, Marsh set a Michigan freshman record with 651 receiving yards, finished second in freshman catches behind Martavious Odoms’ 49 in 2008, and ranked third in freshman touchdowns with seven, trailing Anthony Carter’s 1976 total and Mario Manningham’s five in 2005.
So far this season, five different Michigan pass-catchers have recorded a reception, including running backs Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter and tight end Jalen Hoffman.
Defensively, Michigan has looked every bit like a Jay Hill unit. Hill is in his fifth year as a defensive coordinator, and his groups at BYU built a reputation for physicality and takeaways while also posting strong scoring numbers. Michigan’s version has started just as stingy: through two games, the defense has allowed only one touchdown and ranks 18th nationally in points allowed at 11 per game.
The Oklahoma game was especially sharp. Michigan shut the Sooners out in the first half, the first time Oklahoma failed to score in a half since its 23-6 loss to Texas on Oct. 11 last year. The Wolverines kept the Sooners out of the red zone until more than 35 minutes had passed and held them to 3-of-14 on third and fourth downs.
The pressure has shown up in the backfield, too. Michigan has 14.0 tackles for loss, good for 25th nationally at 7.0 per game.
John Henry Daley and Dom Nichols each have 3.0. Daley picked up his first sack as a Wolverine against Oklahoma; he entered the season as the roster’s career leader with 12.5.
Nichols had 1.5 sacks in the opener and leads the team this year.
The pass defense has kept things tight as well, ranking 33rd nationally in pass efficiency defense at 104.9 and 22nd in passing yards allowed at 139.0 per game.
Turnovers have been part of the mix. Michigan forced two against Oklahoma after producing multiple turnovers in five games last season.
The first turnover of 2026 came on Troy Bowles’ first career fumble recovery, with Chris Bracy forcing the ball loose. Bracy had two punchouts last season at Memphis.
Bowles also leads the team with 21 tackles, which ranks ninth nationally, and he and Bracy are tied with 11 solo tackles apiece.
Jyaire Hill added the first interception of the season last weekend, the third of his career and one that ties him with Zeke Berry for second on the roster among corners. Smith Snowden leads all cornerbacks with four, while safety Rod Moore remains the overall leader among defensive backs with seven.
In 2025, 20 different players recorded a pass defense or interception, led by Berry’s 11 breakups, including one pick. Snowden, Hill and linebacker Chase Taylor have already gotten on the board in 2026 with breakups or an interception.
Special teams has its own new cast, with Trey Butkowski, Cam Brown and Jacob Baggett handling the main jobs. Butkowski, a Lou Groza Award Watch List member, went 19-of-22 on field goals in his lone season at Pitt after arriving as a walk-on. He made a 40-yarder against Oklahoma on his first attempt of the year.
Brown, meanwhile, has settled in quickly at punter. He averaged 42.9 yards on 22 punts as a freshman at Utah and is averaging 43.4 yards per punt with a 42.1 net this season.
He has punted 13 times, with eight downed inside the 20, seven fair catches forced and two punts pinned at the one-yard line against Oklahoma. Michigan kept the Sooners inside their 20 on six of seven attempts.
In Other News...
Why L.J. Cason Really Left Michigan Still Stings For Wolverines Fans
L.J. Casons return to Ann Arbor this week carried a little extra weight for Michigan fans who remember how much promise surrounded him before injuries and offseason turnover changed the picture. The three-star guard arrived under Dusty May, spent his lone season in the program during the national title run and then saw that year interrupted by a torn ACL, a sequence that made his exit feel less like a routine transfer and more like another reminder of how quickly the roster shifted.
Cason said Mays departure for the Dallas Mavericks played a major role in his decision to enter the portal, and he ultimately landed at Miami. Even so, coming back to receive his championship ring gave him a chance to reconnect with the program and speak about what he sees ahead for Michigan, a conversation that only added to the lingering what-if feeling among fans who wondered what his next chapter might have looked like in Ann Arbor. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Faces Pressure To Hold Off Rivals For Key Legacy Recruit
Marquis Ray has already made two trips to Michigan Stadium this season, and each visit has only deepened the sense that the Wolverines are in the mix for one of the more important in-state prospects on the board. The Saline standout carries a Michigan offer and, just as notably, legacy ties through his father, Marcus Ray, giving the pursuit a built-in familiarity that has helped him keep building relationships with the coaching staff since that offer arrived in June.
The competition is far from limited to Ann Arbor, though, with Kentucky, Illinois and Pitt all still in the picture as Ray works toward a decision that could come by winter. For Michigan, the appeal is obvious: this is the kind of recruit who matters beyond rankings, both because of where hes from and because of what his last name already means around the program. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Hail Mary Controversy Now Has An NCAA Admission
The final sequence of Michigans win over Western Michigan has moved from a one-off officiating gripe to something the NCAA itself has now addressed. The FBS Oversight Committee acknowledged that instant replay protocols were not followed correctly on the games last plays, a confirmation that gives fresh weight to the debate around how the finish was handled.
Even so, the result is staying put. NCAA bylaws do not allow the game outcome to be changed, so Michigans victory will remain official, even as the Mid-American Conference pushed for Western Michigan to be recognized as the winner for ranking purposes. For the Wolverines, it means the record book is safe, but the controversy around the ending is not going away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]