For one drive, Michigan appeared to silence its critics.

On the Wolverines' first play from scrimmage, junior running back Mike Hart answered any questions as to how well he could run after his hamstring injury last season. Hart took the run off left tackle for an 12-yard gain and a Michigan first down.

That run began an impressive 10-play, 81-yard Wolverine drive that ended with sophomore Kevin Grady's 19-yard touchdown run. No. 14 Michigan went from there to a season-opening 27-7 win over Vanderbilt, although little of what followed was as smooth as that first drive on Saturday.

The wide receivers dropped catchable passes. Fifth-year senior Steve Breaston mishandled punts. The offensive line jumped offsides. Grady fumbled deep in Commodore territory to end a Michigan drive. And kicker Garrett Rivas had a field goal blocked.

"I'm disappointed in the way we executed," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "I thought we dropped some balls that had big play potential. We had too many penalties. . We stopped ourselves."

It wasn't until late in the third quarter that the aerial attack finally showed brief signs of coming together.

Junior quarterback Chad Henne hit tight end Tyler Ecker in the back of the endzone to stretch the Michigan lead to 20-7. Then with just more than two minutes left in the game, Henne found a streaking Mario Manningham along the left sideline for a 27-yard touchdown.

Henne and his receivers agreed their problems are correctable.

"There were mistakes out there and improvements to be made," said Henne, who threw for 135 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 completions. "It definitely wasn't my best performance, but we'll see from this week to next week how much improvement we make from myself and from the team."

On the other side of the ball, Michigan's defense dominated. Throughout the day, the Wolverines controlled the point of attack and even managed to run down Commodore quarterback Chris Nickson on many of his scrambles. The defense racked up six sacks with senior defensive ends Rondell Biggs and LaMarr Woodley leading the way with two apiece.

"I think we did pretty good," Woodley said. "It was the first game, and (we) actually got a look (at a running quarterback). ... We just have to continue to improve on that."

Vanderbilt's lone touchdown came off a trick play with 12:26 left in the second quarter. The Michigan defense bit on a Nickson lateral to wide receiver Earl Bennett. Bennett in turn fired it downfield to a wide-open Marlon White. White waltzed into the endzone to cut the Wolverine lead to 13-7.

But on the following two Commodore drives, the Michigan defense allowed just one play for a gain and racked up two sacks and two stops for a loss.

As the passing game struggled, the Michigan running attack showed significant improvement from a year ago.

Last season, the Wolverine running game faltered down the stretch. It failed to out-rush Ohio State and Nebraska. And the results showed: Michigan lost both games.

With the glaring running problem in mind, Carr continually said during the offseason that the 2006 Wolverines would need to return to form before they could become national contenders.

And Saturday, Michigan responded.

The team finished the game with a total of 246 rushing yards, including 146 from Hart. Behind an offensive line featuring a healthy left tackle Jake Long, the Michigan running backs had plenty of running room.

Reserve running backs Grady and freshman Brandon Minor showed what valuable support they can give Hart. Minor - who ran for 30 yards on three carries - flashed his speed with an impressive 24-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. Grady also finished with 30 yards.

"That's what we have to do all year," Hart said. "We have to play together as a backfield. . That's the biggest thing -- those two have to come in and produce so coaches aren't scared to take me out of the game. They did a great job of that today."