Bryce Underwood is walking into Saturday with a lot more than Oklahoma on the schedule.
Over the past couple of weeks, the Michigan quarterback has taken heat from just about every direction. After turning 18, the criticism only picked up.
On Saturday, Michigan nation was already questioning whether he should take another snap for the program. By Wednesday, he was brushing off a question about his starting job.
Now he gets a chance to answer all of it against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The backdrop is messy. There are real doubts about whether Underwood is fully committed to Michigan, and plenty of people have started to wonder if he’s tough enough for the job he was handed. Others have gone further, calling him immature, money-driven, or even suggesting he should transfer right away.
The performance against the four-touchdown underdog at home only made things worse. Expectations around Underwood and the team shifted fast after that showing, and the situation feels like it could spiral even more if Saturday goes sideways again.
A week of work on his mechanics is not much time to clean everything up before facing one of the fiercest defenses coming to town. Underwood’s comments have already rubbed some people the wrong way, especially when stacked up against the way J.J.
McCarthy carried himself. Underwood was also seen laughing after he set up his tight end to get lit up on a pass play in the second half of the Western Michigan win, another moment that didn’t sit well with parts of the fanbase.
McCarthy, by comparison, was proud to be Michigan’s focal point. Underwood has lost some of that goodwill because of his demeanor, his play and the things he has said.
There was also the alternate path. Had he chosen LSU, he would have been dealing with a coaching change that would have worked in his favor with the hiring of Lane Kiffin. Instead, he stayed with Jason Beck, and the same problems he had as a freshman came back even faster than Michigan fans wanted.
The calls for Tommy Carr to replace him are already out there, and the fanbase is splitting as the pressure builds. Another outing like Saturday’s - outside of the first series and the final play of the game - would only make that divide worse.
If Underwood needs a reminder that big upsets can happen, Stanford quarterback Davis Warren is the example to point to. The cancer survivor, who is half as talented as Underwood, pulled off one of the most unlikely upsets in college football history.
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For Wolverines fans, the hook is less about the broad concept than the way this new format keeps widening the list of names worth tracking. The set is set to feature the first Bowman cards of Texas quarterback Arch Manning, along with special cards of NFL legends in their college uniforms, and the checklist already includes eye-catching pairings like Joe Burrow and Paul Skenes, Vince Young and Kevin Durant, and Matthew Stafford and Anthony Edwards. [Read more 🡒]