Instant Takeaways From Michigan's Spring Game

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan was back in the Big House on Saturday for a chilly spring game. The Wolverines played a four-quarter game in front of fans.

Most of the starters played in the first quarter — playing 'thud' football, or two-hand tap — before quarters two through four were tackle football.

Bryce Underwood played as the full-time quarterback in the first quarter. Then, Tommy Carr was the full-time QB in the second quarter — when tackling began. In the second half, we saw both Carr and Chase Herbstreit.

Team Maize defeated Team Blue, 7-6, in the exhibition game.

Here are some observations.

Very vanilla first quarter

At first, it didn't sound like there were going to be any starters playing in the game, but Kyle Whittingham elected to play his starters in the first quarter, playing 'thud' football. There wasn't a whole lot to grasp from the first quarter.

Bryce Underwood played and made a few nice throws, but didn't do anything out of the ordinary. He did make a nice dart to Eli Owens for a first down, but also missed Salesi Moa deep.

Underwood's day ended completing 3-of-9 passes for 22 yards.

Jordan Marshall is in store for a nice year

Probably didn't need the spring game to determine this, but Marshall was a bright spot in the first quarter. Obviously, there wasn't any tackling, but the left side of the offensive line opened a few holes for the junior and he found the gaps. Marshall had two or three nice runs and looks fully healthy heading into the 2026 campaign.

He finished the day carrying the ball five times for 21 yards.

Defensive line appears to be ahead of the offensive line

Head coach Kyle Whittingham has really talked up the defensive line and it certainly appeared like the defensive front is ahead of schedule. It's hard to grasp how well or how poorly the offensive line played since the unit was split into two.

But both Bryce Underwood and Tommy Carr had to scramble several times in the game as the pocket collapsed. Defensive linemen Benny Patterson, Travis Moten, and Enow Etta impressed.

Both 5-Star true freshmen impressed

Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan are both cemented as the top two wide receivers, and fans were excited to see true freshman Salesi Moa, along with Texas transfer Jaime French.

Moa started for the Maize team, and although he couldn't connect with Bryce Underwood early in the game, he made a nice one-handed catch late in the second quarter. Tommy Carr misfired on his throw, but Moa came down with the pass anyway. A great sign of what Moa is capable of doing.