Michigan football bounced back this week with a big win over the Washington Huskies, 24 to 7. This was a must-win for Michigan football as the Wolverines are still in the playoff hunt and look to continue this momentum for the rest of the season. The schedule gets a little easier from here, and they finish with Ohio State at home, so the playoffs are still in reach.
In this game against Washington, we saw a breakout game from Jordan Marshall as he rushed for a career-high 133 yards and a touchdown. We also saw a lot of young talent step up and play very well. Evan Link, the left tackle, went down with a knee injury early in the game, and we saw redshirt freshman Blake Frazier step up and be the highest-graded offensive lineman for Michigan on the day. Even with a depleted tight end room with injuries to Marlin Klein and Hogan Hansen, we saw Zack Marshall being heavily used in the pass game and was the leading receiver with five receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown.
The big story coming out of the big win was the offense and how great it looked, and how it felt like the play calling was finding its stride. With all the different playmakers that stepped up, we saw Bryce Underwood calm, cool, and collected, with easily his best game as a Wolverine. Underwood was 21 of 27 for 230 yards passing and two touchdowns.
This was his career-high in completion percentage, with 77.8% of his passes being completed. He was as advertised in this game, and this is what the Michigan faithful expected from him at the beginning of the year. Joel Klatt, who was on commentary for the game, stated, "I've been so impressed with Bryce Underwood; he came in with so many expectations and so much pressure, and you know what he has delivered."
Hearing this from a former quarterback is such a compliment for a young player figuring everything out in front of millions of people each week. He is essentially growing up more and more each week. Early in this game, we saw him miss a throw because he tends to put a lot of velocity on his throws. Later in the game, we saw him put some touch on the same play to the same wide receiver, which resulted in a big gain.
Underwood is maturing every week and he was everything we could ask for this week without really even using his legs. This week I am giving Bryce Underwood a B+. There is obviously room for improvement but saying that after such a great game from him is a great thing to be excited about for the future.
Underwood and the Wolverines look to keep the momentum going as they head to East Lansing to take on little brother Michigan State in a tough environment.