Michigan Football's Report Card After Dominant Second Half Against UTEP

The Michigan Wolverines looked like they were headed for another nailbiter against an inferior opponent as 10 late points in the first half gave them a slim 17-14 advantage over the UTEP Miners.

A nail was not lifted to a single mouth across Michigan’s fanbase as a dominant third quarter left no doubt that this team learned its lesson from their Week 1 near disaster. The Wolverines outscored the Miners 28-0 in the third quarter, and scored 38 unanswered points before a sad field goal from UTEP broke the scoring drought to pull them within 45-17 in the third quarter.

There are still some things to clean up. Michigan played cleaner from a penalties perspective, drawing only four flags, but did turn the ball over twice.

Overall, this game was a solid step forward before getting into conference play next week against Iowa.

Here are our grades from Michigan’s first truly dominant win of the season.

Pass Offense

Any questions about a quarterback controversy have been absolutely slammed shut. Bryce Underwood has been excellent each of the last two weeks, and was particularly surgical against UTEP on Sunday.

We’ll ding him for the fumble which took points off the scoreboard on the first possession, but apart from that Underwood looked comfortable. He looked poised. He rarely panicked.

His final numbers are not going to look like someone who is primed to win the Heisman Trophy. They are winning numbers, however, as Underwood completed 19 of his 25 passes and threw two touchdowns. Those two scoring strikes went to both of his star receivers.

Michigan’s passing offense has to figure out something apart from Marsh and Buchanan. As great as a duo as those two can become, Michigan’s passing offense is often too easy to defend. We had some hope that there would be more of an effort to get someone like Mason Bonner on the field in the passing game, but it was not to be on this day.

Andrew Marsh this catch was nasty pic.twitter.com/2UVNzzpaAq
— MAL (@MindOfBron) September 19, 2026

Salesi Moa and Travis Johnson became the first receivers other than Marsh and Buchanan to catch a pass this season. Maybe that is something that can be a springboard into conference play.

Tommy Carr also got into the game and threw his first touchdown pass as a Wolverine, to the delight of his family that was clearly emotional in attendance.

Such a moment can tug on the heartstrings.

Michigan still needs to figure some things out on offense, but Saturday was another step in the right direction.

Grade: B

Rush Offense

Savion Hiter was the leading rusher for the team on Saturday, becoming the first player other than Bryce Underwood to lead the team in rushing this season. He also fumbled in the game, which set up a touchdown that gave the Miners a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. Hiter was in the doghouse for a brief period of time after that, but returned to action to score a touchdown in the second half.

As good as Jordan Marshall is, Hiter is more talented. With Marshall nursing an injury, there could be more opportunities for Hiter coming in the near future.

Between Michigan’s top two rushers, Marshall and Hiter combined for 122 yards on 23 carries. Was it perfect? No, but an improvement over the first two games of the season.

SAVION HITER AGAIN FOR THE WOLVERINES@UMichFootball pic.twitter.com/9wIICEGiEK
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 19, 2026

The offensive line also deserves some kudos as they were playing short handed with Andrew Sprague nursing an injury. Whittingham noted after the game that his starting five on the offensive line on Saturday did not rep together once during the week. That’s not an easy task to get zero reps together and play as well as the offensive line did.

The Wolverines hope that Sprague can return next week against Iowa, but the starting five this week proved to be capable, at the bare minimum.

Grade: B

Pass Defense

Michigan’s defensive line.

Wow.

It does not seem to matter who is in the game. They create havoc and get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Tariq Boney and Carter Meadows were causing issues for UTEP’s offense when the game got out of hand.

Prior to that, the quartet of John Henry Daley, Benny Patterson III, Dom Nichols, and Nate Marshall all took turns making life miserable for EJ Colson.

Colson completed seven of his nine passes, but most were in an unconventional manner with Michigan looking to take away his legs.

His two touchdown passes came when Michigan’s defense was fooled. Still, those are plays that Michigan would tell you they should not give up.

JONAH LEA'EA PICK SIX 😱

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/jKD61aTrAv
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) September 19, 2026

The biggest play of the game came from defensive tackle Jonah Lea’ea, who intercepted a screen pass from Colson, and rumbled into the end zone to give Michigan a final exclamation point on a dominant performance on the day.

The team was able to rotate several players on the day, which is something that could bode well for them down the road as well.

Zeke Berry missed the game with an injury, which is something to monitor next week. Shamari Earls showed well as his replacement.

It was not the same type of dominant performance that Michigan had last week against John Mateer, but they ultimately gave up less than 100 yards passing and had four sacks. That’s about as good as you can hope for with two big plays being the only thing keeping this unit from an A.

Grade: B-Plus

Rush Defense

The mission for Saturday’s game was pretty simple. Keep the quarterback from wrecking the game with his legs. EJ Colson is a gifted runner, and that dual threat ability did give Michigan problems at different times during Saturday’s game.

Once they tied the game at 14, however, Michigan’s defense tightened up. EJ Colson ran for 10 yards on 12 carries, with a net yardage on the day of minus-20 yards when accounting for sacks.

UTEP’s final numbers show they gained 97 yards on 32 carries. Accounting for sacks and TFL’s, they had a net gain of 57 yards on the ground.

The degree of difficulty rises next week with a tough, physical offense from Iowa coming to Ann Arbor, but this rush defense has been dominant through three weeks of the season. They shined the brightest on Saturday.

Grade: A

Special Teams

What a find Troy Butkowski has been in the kicking game. He has yet to miss this season, and has rarely been asked to make low-leverage field goals. His kick at the end of the first half gave Michigan a 17-14 lead at halftime, and gave some confidence that they could start to pull away in the second half.

Cam Brown has been excellent as a punter as well. There were not a lot of opportunities in the return game, but usually if the special teams is not a focal point of the story, things went relatively well. Kerry Coombs group, at a minimum, is not the disaster that special teams was at Michigan a season ago.

Grade: B

Coaching

Michigan probably cannot afford to start slow like they did today once they get into conference play. One thing any coach dreams of, however, is getting the opportunity to give teaching points in a win.

Kyle Whittingham will have that opportunity now. The Wolverines were dominant in a 52-17 victory over UTEP, but likely could have won by more if not for some self inflicted wounds. Turnovers by Bryce Underwood and Savion Hiter would be more likely to come back to haunt them against a quality opponent. Whittingham can drive that point home this week.

The biggest thing to note from this Michigan team through three games is that there are tangible signs of progress. With all due respect to the previous staff, were there signs like that in either of the last two seasons?

Whittingham also earns extra points here for his aggression at the end of the first half. UTEP was clearly content to try and run out the clock after JJ Buchanan’s touchdown made the score 14-14 late in the first half. Whittingham, with two timeouts at his disposal, forced the Miners to try and play offense.

When they did not oblige, Michigan still had enough time to put together a late drive for a field goal.

Whatever adjustments Whittingham and company made at halftime worked. The Wolverines had confidence restored, and looked like the superior team they should be against a team like UTEP.

Kudos to Jason Beck and Jay Hill for playing nearly perfect in the second half. Beck has found a few things with Bryce Underwood, who continues to improve every week. Hill has been a mastermind. Realistically, the Wolverines’ defense was beaten on two plays on Saturday. Those are not plays you want to give up, but it’s forgivable.

This coaching staff has a few things it can work on, but through three games it’s a clear upgrade to what was in Ann Arbor a season ago.

Grade: B-Plus.

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