Bryce Underwood played a game to forget in the Michigan football win against Purdue. The Wolverines' run game was most of their offense as Underwood struggled to hit open receivers throughout the game. In a game where Underwood could have shown his talent to the entire country, he ended up having one of his worst games of the season.
Going into the game, we knew Purdue would be scrappy, but we knew this would result in a win because of the talent gap on each side. The run game played a huge role for Michigan football as Jordan Marshall broke another huge touchdown run, as he has filled in for Justice Haynes perfectly.
A career-high game for Marshall, rushing for 185 yards and three touchdowns, would be the majority of the Wolverines' offense in the win as the pass game continues to struggle.
Bryce Underwood had another underwhelming week, only going 13 of 22 for 145 yards and two turnovers. Underwood had no passing touchdowns for back-to-back weeks, with Marshall getting it done on the ground for all of Michigan's touchdowns.
Grading Bryce Underwood in Michigan's win over Purdue
There were a lot of big plays Underwood missed an open receiver on, which hasn't been the case, as most of his incompletions to this point have been drops. We saw a big play over the middle where freshman Jamar Browder got open, and the throw was way out in front of him.
Although not a completed play, this can be a good sign for Browder's playing time as getting open like this shows great improvement for a position of struggle for Michigan.
Underwood found ways to keep drives alive, though, as we saw him scramble for a first and goal on a third down to set up Jordan Marshall for a touchdown. He would end the game with seven rushes for 44 yards, which has been the most yards rushing he's had in weeks.
Hopefully, the pass game is a major focus during the upcoming bye week, as they will need to find a rhythm before they are in Ann Arbor against the No. 1 team in the country, Ohio State, fighting for a playoff spot.
I am giving Bryce Underwood a D for this week. He was about as good as he was at Michigan State, but arguably worse with the costly turnovers. Michigan has a bye week this week and then travels to Northwestern the next week.