There is a lot of talk about what Michigan football needs to do to make the College Football Playoff.
Yet, for that to happen, what the Wolverines need is for Bryce Underwood to play some of his best football down the stretch.
There have been some great moments, such as the Washington game, while there have also been some not-so-great moments, such as most of the Purdue game. Michigan State wasn't great either, although Underwood had a touchdown run and posed as Paul Bunyan.
It could have been worse.
Still, it will need to be better down the stretch. Underwood had two turnovers and accounted for zero touchdowns against Purdue. Five-win Northwestern is on tap this week. The two teams will play at Wrigley Field, which should be packed with Michigan fans.
Encouraging words on Michigan QB Bryce Underwood
There might be more Michigan football fans than Northwestern fans at the game. Regardless, plenty of eyes will be on Bryce Underwood. He didn't perform well in his past two games before the bye week.
#Michigan HC Sherrone Moore says they are working on having QB Bryce Underwood in pistol formation and under center as well.
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) November 10, 2025
Wants to have a good balance of both in this offense. He adds QB Bryce Underwood was locked in this bye week and is ready to roll.
However, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said Underwood was "locked in," during the bye week. Moore also said Underwood is "ready to roll," via Brice Marich of The Michigan Insider.
Another tidbit from Moore is that Underwood worked more out of the pistol and under center. He's done almost everything out of the shotgun this season. So that's interesting. It could give defenses something else to think about, while opening up some different play calls, such as play-action shots down the field, or more rollouts.
Whatever the Wolverines need to do to get Bryce Underwood comfortable again is what they need to do. On that note, Moore said Marlin Klein and Donaven McCulley were "good to go" heath wise, which is a good sign heading into the Northwestern game on Saturday.