There were ups and downs during the freshman season of Michigan football quarterback Bryce Underwood.
The Washington game was a high, for instance. Underwood made some incredible throws, including on some key third-down conversions to help win the game.
Underwood completed 60.9 percent of his passes last season for 2,428 yards. He also had 11 touchdown passes compared to nine intercpetions, as well as 392 rushing yrads and six scores.
It wasn't the best freshman season of all time. Yet, it certainly wasn't the worst. Michigan football won nine games, and was even in the playoff conversation going into the final regular-season game.
Underwood accounted for 216 total yards per game. He did all of that without a dedicated quarterback coach, and a coaching staff that forced him to play handcuffed.
That won't happen this season. Jason Beck isn't going to hold back Underwood. He will be unleashed this spring, and this fall, not just through the air either.
It makes zero sense to have a quarterback like Underwood not use his running ability. Michigan used it sparingly, and it hurt the offense. Throwing the ball will be the more important part of Underwood's development, and according to Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham, the former five-star recruit is making progress there too.
The "sky's the limit" for Bryce Underwood
"If Bryce can get everything smoothed out and get the deficiencies he had fixed, the sky's the limit for that young man," Whittingham said this week.
Whittingham said that Underwood was "making progress" under Koy Detmer Jr and Jason Beck. Detmer is the quarterback's coach who also did an interview where he talked extensively about the development of Underwood last month on the In the Trenches podcast.
It sounds like Bryce is gaining confidence once again, which isn't a surprise after getting coached up. Underwood has all the tools in the world. He's got every talent you could possibly want in a quarterback. The clay is there to mold.
It's up to Kyle Whittingham and this Michigan football staff to get the most out of Underwood, and so far, it sounds like that development is going according to plan.