Michigan needed every last second - and then some - to survive its season opener.
What looked like a clean start at Michigan Stadium quickly turned into a long, uneasy night for the Wolverines, who escaped Western Michigan 28-27 on a last-gasp Hail Mary after spending most of the game stumbling through penalties, turnovers and stalled drives. Bryce Underwood and JJ Buchanan provided the finish, but Michigan spent far more time looking like a team trying to figure itself out.
The opening possession was the part that had Michigan fans believing the hype. The Wolverines covered 75 yards on their first drive and finished it with a fourth-and-inches touchdown run from Underwood.
Before that score, Underwood had hit all five of his passes for 61 yards, and Buchanan helped keep the drive alive with a one-handed catch on a play that started with a botched snap. Michigan mixed up the pace, Underwood added 12 rushing yards, and the Wolverines were up 7-0 before the game had settled in.
After that, the offense nearly vanished.
Michigan managed only 26 yards across its next four drives, with three of them ending in 3-and-outs. Underwood, who started 5-for-5 for 61 yards, went 3-for-8 for nine yards over his next stretch.
The misses came in all kinds of flavors: open throws in the flats, a deep ball sailed more than 10 yards off target, an overturned interception near the sideline and, late in a two-minute drill, a throw that turned into an interception and nearly a pick-six. Western Michigan got the ball in field-goal range with less than 10 seconds left in the half.
The run game didn’t offer much relief either. Michigan produced only 46 rushing yards on 16 carries in the first half.
Jordan Marshall, the Wolverines’ star running back and captain, had eight carries for 20 yards. After the opening drive, Michigan also backed away from using Underwood as a runner as much, and he finished the half with four carries for 21 yards.
The defense kept Michigan from falling apart entirely. The front generated two sacks and steady pressure early, and the Wolverines were stout enough against the run to hold Western Michigan to 35 rushing yards on 19 first-half carries.
Even after Andrew Marsh muffed a punt and handed the Broncos a short field, Michigan’s defense held. Western Michigan reached Michigan territory five times in the first half and came away with only six points, including three at the buzzer.
That left Michigan clinging to a 7-6 lead at the break, and the boos were already creeping in.
The second half never really gave the Wolverines a clean reset. The teams traded punts before Western Michigan finally pieced together the kind of drive Michigan had not been able to stop for long. Over 20 plays and nearly 14 minutes, the Broncos moved into field-goal range, converted four third downs and grabbed a 9-7 lead with 10:25 left.
Michigan’s response was flat. The next two drives ended with a 3-and-out and, later, a fumble by Underwood on a first-down run with less than two minutes remaining. That turnover gave Western Michigan the ball with 1:50 left.
Still, the Broncos could only add another field goal, their fourth of the night despite eight drives ending in Michigan territory. That kept the door cracked open, and Michigan got one final chance with 35 seconds left.
Under pressure, the Wolverines finally found a spark. On 3rd-and-10, Underwood hit Buchanan over the middle for 26 yards, pushing Michigan to the Western Michigan 47 with 11 seconds left.
After a spike, Michigan took its first Hail Mary shot, then got a second attempt with one second remaining. Underwood went back to Buchanan, and the sophomore delivered again to finish the game and seal the win.
Buchanan was the clear headline from the night. The Utah transfer finished with six catches for 126 yards and a touchdown on nine targets, accounting for 74 percent of Michigan’s receiving yards. Outside of Buchanan, Underwood was 6-for-13 for 44 yards and an interception.
Dominic Nichols also made his presence felt. The redshirt sophomore posted 1.5 sacks and several pressures in a breakout showing, and Michigan’s defense leaned on him throughout the night. Cameron Brown earned a game ball too, and for good reason: the UNLV transfer punted six times for 268 yards, averaged 44.7 yards per kick and pinned two punts inside the 20.
The numbers told the story of how uneven this one was. Michigan got 150 of its 276 total yards on just its first and last drives.
On the other eight possessions, the Wolverines had 126 yards, five first downs, two turnovers and only 4.0 yards per play. Defensively, Michigan allowed 12 points even though Western Michigan had eight drives into Wolverine territory and held the ball for 40:02.
Stopping 10 third-down tries was a major reason the Broncos never fully finished the job.
The bigger picture around the game was hard to ignore afterward. Michigan was sloppy, uneven and fortunate.
The Wolverines finished with nine penalties and three turnovers, couldn’t run the ball, didn’t control the line of scrimmage and were inconsistent in the passing game. Nichols said he was "sick to my stomach," and the frustration around the performance was obvious.
Maybe Michigan settles in, and maybe Western Michigan ends up being much better than the result suggests. The Broncos were expected to win the MAC for a second straight year before Saturday night.
But Michigan also left behind a long list of concerns, and the schedule doesn’t offer much room to hide. The Wolverines still have four top-10 matchups and at least six games against expected ranked opponents.
Next up is No. 10 Oklahoma at Michigan Stadium next Saturday. The Sooners opened their season with a 51-0 win over UTEP, who also happens to be Michigan’s Week 3 opponent.
In Other News...
Big Ten Felt Forced To Address Michigan Ending Everyone Noticed
The late-game clock change in Michigans win over Western Michigan drew plenty of attention, and now the Big Ten has stepped in to explain it. According to the conference, replay officials restored one second after determining that a Western Michigan player who had stepped out of bounds still touched the ball with one second left, giving the crew a reason to adjust the clock.
The conference backed up the ruling by releasing video footage of the replay officials discussion, a move that usually tells you the noise around a call has gotten loud enough to demand a formal response. For Michigan, the play itself was only one small moment in a game that had already been decided, but the explanation became part of the postgame conversation anyway. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Fans Have Every Right To Worry About This Offense
Michigans offense gave fans plenty to chew on in the first half against Western Michigan, and not much of it was comforting. After an opening touchdown drive, the unit went quiet, managing only 41 yards the rest of the way as quarterback Bryce Underwood had a mixed start that quickly turned into a mess under pressure. The offensive line did not help matters, with problems showing up both in pass protection and in the run game.
Meanwhile, the defense did what it could to keep the game under control, limiting Western Michigan to 95 total yards and forcing a turnover on downs. But for a fan base trying to gauge what this offense might look like against better competition, the early struggles were hard to ignore. Underwoods interception only added to the unease, and Michigan will have to sort out whether this was just a rough stretch or a sign of bigger issues ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Offense Has A Real Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Michigan opened with exactly the kind of first series fans wanted to see, marching down the field for a touchdown from Bryce Underwood and briefly making the offense look settled. After that, though, the rhythm faded quickly. The ground game never got rolling in the first half, and Michigan managed only 46 rushing yards while averaging 2.5 yards per carry, a sluggish start that left the attack leaning heavily on a young quarterback.
Underwood showed flashes of what he can bring, but the first half also came with the growing pains that can stall an offense in a hurry, including errant throws and interceptions. The result was a 7-6 halftime lead that felt a lot less comfortable than the opening drive suggested, and it leaves Michigan with a familiar question to answer if it wants the rest of the day to look different. [Read more 🡒]