Q&A: Why are the Wolverines not hungry, but 'starving?' Previewing New Mexico's clash with No. 14 Michigan

Journal staff writer Sean Reider was joined by Tony Garcia, the Detroit Free Press’ Michigan beat writer, to preview the Lobos’ season-opener against the Wolverines on the latest episode of Reider’s Block, the only podcast exclusively dedicated to covering New Mexico football.

A few excerpts from the full conversation, available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify:

Questions and responses have been edited for clarity.

Journal: Monday, Michigan announced that freshman quarterback and former-five star recruit Bryce Underwood is making his first career start against New Mexico. What made Underwood the No. 1 prospect in the country, and why was it such a big win for Michigan to keep him in state?

Tony Garcia: “Guys who are 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, run a sub-4.5 (second) 40-yard-dash at 17-years-old just don’t grow on trees, right? I mean, he can see over the line, which I think is a huge advantage. He can outrun pretty much anybody in the defense, unless they’re in the secondary.

“And at that point, he can kind of run them over. Not that Michigan wants him running anybody over, to be clear …

“But he just has everything you want. I mean, I’ve gotten to know his private (and) personal quarterbacks coach over the last year or so. I got to go to one of his private workouts over the summer in Detroit. And, I mean, I’ve covered the (Detroit Lions) and pro training camps and things like that. And I’m not going to say he’s some polished passer like (Lions quarterback) Jared Goff, but the ball is not all that different coming out of his hand, right?

“ … Now I’ve never seen him – other than in high school – play a game, right? Nobody’s seen him play in college. So the processing, the way he deals with live decisions, like risk minimization and all those things that you need to see a quarterback do, that’s still all up for grabs. But in terms of tangible talent, I mean, I (have) not seen a college quarterback look like this in person.”

J: Even if last season’s 8-5 record was more of a disappointment than not, Michigan did finish strong with a rivalry upset over heavily-favored Ohio State and a win against Alabama in its bowl game. What is the mood around the team entering this season?

TG: “I think they said it best today … Ernest Hausmann (is) a linebacker who was just elected as one of the captains for the team. He's a really great guy. This summer, he went back to his hometown (in Uganda) and he put in like clean drinking wells and all these sorts of things.

“And while he is obviously not comparing this situation to that, he referenced some lessons he learned while he was there … One of the messages he was sharing (was), out there, ‘you have no idea how fast people will eat their meals. It's because they're not hungry. They're starving.’ He's like, ‘that's us. That needs to be us.’

“‘We are not hungry this year. We are starving to get back to the College Football Playoff.’”

J: Michigan struggled on offense last season, particularly in the passing game. Beyond bringing in Underwood, what have the Wolverines done to upgrade their offense?

TG: “They brought in a transfer running back from Alabama, Justice Haynes …They've been very clear, it is a 1A-1B punch with him and (running back) Jordan Marshall. And this week, they're still sorting out who's going to be 1A, who's going to be 1B. I think you're going to see a lot of both of them all year long.

“They brought in (wide receiver) Donaven McCulley from Indiana. Michigan just did not have any size at wide receiver, at all. And that was part of the reason, certainly not the whole reason, but a part of the reason why they really couldn't push the ball down the field … (McCulley’s) proven it at the Division I level.

“ … (But) the fact of the matter is the quarterbacking cannot possibly be worse than it was a year ago, just (from a statistical perspective). They had more interceptions than touchdowns. They did not have a single 40-yard-pass play the entire season … The only teams that passed for fewer yards than them were Army, Air Force and Navy.”

J: On the other side of the ball, Michigan lost defensive linemen Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant to the NFL. But they do return plenty of quality players from a top-20 scoring defense – what are you expecting out of this group, and do you think there’s a world where they’re better than they were last year?

TG: “I don't know if they can get better than they were at the end of (last) season – I mean, they held Ohio State … to 10 points at their own place, right? So I don't know if they can get better than that, but I think they could be, when they peak, maybe as good.

“It's just going to come differently, right? Because they talk about being 10 deep on the defensive line. There's six different defensive tackles, sort of three waves of guys who they're going to send at people. And there's two sets of edge rushers: Derrick Moore and TJ Guy are the starters, and then there’s Cameron Brandt and Dominic Nichols. Dom Nichols is a guy who most people, unless you cover the team, don't know his name right now. I think the Big Ten is going to be very familiar with Dom Nichols’ name by late October.”