Michigan football fans might be sick of the Bryce Underwood discourse, but it's one of the things that will define the Wolverines season, so we'll just have to live with it.
Underwood quarterbacked the Wolverines to a 9-4 record in 2025. He was far from perfect. Yet, he wasn't that bad for a freshman.
The Michigan football quarterback didn't necessarily live up to the hype of his No. 1 overall ranking in the 2025 class, or some of the things that he said leading up to the 2025 season.
Underwood said he didn't regret saying those things, though. Kyle Whittingham said he wants his quarterback to have confidence at Big Ten Media Days. He also defended Bryce, and said he believes he will be a successful Michigan quarterback.
Underwood needs to be more successful this season if the Wolverines are going to increase their win total. That won't be easy to do against a schedule that features home games against Penn State, Iowa, Indiana, and Oklahoma, along with road games against Ohio State and Oregon.
Oklahoma will provide a major test early for Michigan QB Bryce Underwood
Brent Venables got Underwood out of his comfort zone. The former five-star quarterback completed just 37 percent of his throws (9/24), while passing for jut 142 yards. Underwood didn't throw an interception. He did have a couple of explosive plays in the air, but ran three times for (-1) yards.
It was a masterful performance from Venables, who has long been one of the best defensive coaches in college football. That's why it won't take long for Michigan football fans, and the rest of the college football world to realize if Underwood and the offense has improved.
One game won't define entire season for the offense. It can improve from week-to-week, but if Underwood completes under 40 percent of his passes again, there will be a panic, understandably.
One big difference should be the running game. Underwood basically didn't attempt a single designed run against Oklahoma. There might have been some zone-read calls, but that wasn't part of the game plan.
That won't be the case this season. Kyle Whittingham said fans can except for Underwood to be used like Devon Dampier, who had 146 rushing attempts last season. Underwood had 88.
Michigan's offense is going to need to score 20 points, at least, to beat Oklahoma, and other top teams on the schedule. The Wolverines struggled to cross that barrier in the most difficult games last season, and if they fail to get across it in Week 2, and Underwood struggles again, that could tell us a lot about what kind of season the sophomore quarterback is going to have.
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