What we learned about Michigan Football in Week 2: An elite pass rush emerges

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After a Week 1 to forget for the Michigan Wolverines, the maize and blue stunned college football with an upset win over the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners in the Big House. It was a full-team response to an entire week of controversy and contempt by media and fans from across the country. Kyle Whittingham deserves massive kudos for how his team and his quarterback bounced back against an SEC opponent who was in the College Football Playoff a season ago.

Michigan’s pass rush could be special

There wasn’t much opportunity for the Wolverines to pin their ears back against Western Michigan because 0f the way the Broncos played in a tight contest. That wasn’t the case against Oklahoma, and Jay Hill’s pass rush feasted on what’s expected to be a good Sooners’ offensive line.

One of the keys to the game was Michigan pressuring and containing Heisman-hopeful quarterback John Mateer. Both Dom Nichols and John Henry Daley were relentless.

It felt like any time Mateer dropped back, he was under duress. The example of Nichols above is 11 pressures on only 33 pass attempts for the Oklahoma quarterback. Even with a few scrambles (Mateer ran the ball 13 times), it’s evident of just one of Michigan’s many pass rush wins throughout the game. Between Nichols and John Henry Daley, the Wolverines could have their best edge duo since the legendary Aidan Hutchinson-David Ojabo season.

To make things even more interesting, the second unit also looked great. Nate Marshall had a TFL on a third-down designed run for Mateer and the game-clinching sack. That’s after recording a sack last week, too. Five-star freshman Carter Meadows has also missed the first two games of the season due to injury and is expected to play a role in the rotation when healthy.

This team is deep at edge, and we could be on the verge of witnessing one of the best pass-rushing units in the country take shape throughout the next few weeks.

Bryce Underwood’s legs are what make this offense

Deservedly, offensive coordinator Jason Beck went back to the drawing board with the Michigan offense after one game. Part of the reason he has been so successful over the last two seasons on the offensive side of the ball is that he actively got the quarterback’s legs involved. His former quarterback, Devon Dampier, ran the ball over 300 times in his two seasons under Beck at New Mexico and Utah.

Things felt different in Week 1, where we saw much fewer designed runs for Bryce Underwood compared to what Beck had been known for over the last few seasons. Underwood ran the ball only nine times, and it was to limited success.

Michigan’s game plan against Oklahoma was much different. It felt like they condensed the playbook, especially early, lining up in a similar formation with motion from Andrew Marsh to show the same look to the Sooners’ defense with the same read for Underwood to help boost his confidence early.

Then, it was back to the basics for Beck as the Wolverines saw Underwood run the ball 18 times for 87 yards and a score.

Underwood’s arm and decision making passing the ball has been shaky at best to start the season, but both of those things are still developing. He’s a phenomenal athlete, and the blueprint of leveraging his God-given ability while the rest comes up to speed in the Beck offense could pay significant dividends. It feels like something has been untapped here, and if Michigan can beat Oklahoma’s defense with this formula, they can beat just about anyone.

This is a resilient team

Being a Hail Mary away from dropping a game as 20+ point favorites at home to Western Michigan in the first game under a new head coach could shake a lot of teams. Being the Michigan brand, with the quarterback that they have under center, adds an entirely different layer of pressure.

This locker room has been through a lot. From the national championship to their third head coach in four seasons, to on-and-off-the-field scandals, there were and still are many reasons to give up even after only one game.

But the leadership on this team called a players-only meeting, got everyone’s heads on straight, and competed like legitimate contenders against one of the best teams in college football on Saturday where everyone was counting them out, even their own fans.

What we learned, more than anything this week, is that the mentality and player-led locker room on this team is strong. While they still have a daunting schedule ahead of them, they earned a massive win and a huge amount of respect from me for how they came out, performed, and earned a win against a damn good football team a week after a near-historically embarrassing performance.

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