Saturday's Michigan football game against UTEP was a tale of two halves.
The Wolverines were sluggish and mistake-prone in the first half, as the Miners took the lead on two separate occasions. It was even 14-7 with under two minutes in the second quarter
Eventually, Michigan righted the ship. The Wolverines scored 10 points in the last two minutes of the first half, then outscored UTEP 35-3 in the second.
Here are five things we learned.
Bryce Underwood is getting better
It's easy to focus on the first-half fumble. However, that's a perfect example of "you can't see the forest for the trees."
Underwood needs to work on ball security as a runner. It's something he will get better at, but yes, that was frustrating. It was frustrating when Savion Hiter fumbled, too.
If Michigan holds onto the ball, UTEP probably never gets the lead. Regardless, Underwood completed19-of-25 passes for 223 yards. He added 22 on the ground and didn't put the ball in harm's way.
UTEP was loading the box and forcing Bryce to make plays with his arm, which he did, all day. Underwood found Andrew Marsh 10 times for 105 yards. JJ Buchanan caught seven passes for 92.
Michigan football had just two explosive plays. That's one thing that's concerning, but seeing Underwood complete 76 percent of his passes, and more importantly, look good doing it, in terms of his mechanics, was exactly what Michigan fans needed and wanted to see.
Running game is still a work in progress
Michigan rushed for 185 yards. Savion Hiter and Jordan Marshall both averaged over five yards per rushing attempt, and each had a run of 15 yards or more.
But the fact that the Wolverines weren't able to generate a single explosive run against the Miners was concerning. UTEP was determined to make Underwood beat them through the air, and they were allowing just 3.6 yards per attempt on the ground coming in, even with Oklahoma on the schedule.
Michigan averaged 4.4 on Saturday.
So let's not panic. Michigan's offensive line was also banged up. Jordan Marshall left the game in the second half. There is still too much East/West in the run game, and not enough North/South as far as the play design.
The offensive line still needs to play better. The running backs, too. But it's hard to run successfully into an 8 or even 9-man box. Teams are going to make Underwood prove he can throw the football.
Saturday, he did and the run game was a benefactor.
Defense was much more dominant than the scoreboard indicated
If you look past the 17 points, this was a stellar effort from the Michigan football defense. 14 of UTEP's 17 points came off turnovers. Another three points came when Tariq Boney was essentially called for roughing the passer on a play where the QB turned himself into a runner.
So there were some exigent circumstances. I didn't love sending the house on third-and-short in the first quarter. It was predictable and led to an easy touchdown, when it was unlikely UTEP would have been able to drive the field for a touchdown.
Michigan also jumped offsides, wiping away a sack on the third-and-six, which turned it inot a third-and-one. The only other TD drive was when UTEP took over inside the red zone after a fumble.
The Miners managed just 150 yards of total offense. Michigan held them to 1.8 yards per rushing attempt, and only nine first downs. UTEP averaged 3.2 yards per play. Michigan had four sacks and nine tackles for loss, as well as a defensive touchdown.
Anyone unhappy with that defensive performance needs a reality check.
A strong freshman class
There has been buzz about this freshman class dating back to the spring. Saturday was one of the best examples yet of what this group can do.
Hiter scored two touchdowns. He seems poised for an even bigger role moving forward, especially with the way he catches the ball, like the sideline reception against Oklahoma.
However, the most exciting freshman through three games might be Tariq Boney. The four-star signee, who was once a low-rated three-star recruit, notched a sack and two quarterback hits in the win.
That was one week after drawing a holding penalty on his first snap against OU in a key spot. Carter Meadows was right there on the sack, too.
If you didn't know otherwise, you might think Boney is a five-star recruit. That has nothing to do with Meadows either. He got on the field for the first time after a nagging injury and absolutely looked the part.
Boney just looks like another steal for EDGE U.
END THE MISTAKES
If you watched "The Office" you might remember that part when Andy is the manager and Robert California is the CEO.
In one scene, Andy is trying to become friendly with California. But after seeing repeated mistakes at the office California says emphatically, "END THE MISTAKES!"
The two can be friendly, as long as Andy ends the mistakes. That's how I felt watching Michigan football. This team could be really good, really fun to watch, if it can just end the mistakes.
The fumbles, the penalties, all of it. Michigan didn't have a penalty in the second half. It also didn't have any turnovers and outscored UTEP 35-3. It was total domination.
Against Western and Oklahoma, Michigan would have won each game by multiple scores if the Wolverines just cut out the mistakes.
If the Wolverines, who are 3-0, can play just play clean football, watch out, especially if Underwood keeps trending in the right direction.
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