Bryce Underwood’s path away from Michigan is starting to look more and more like a real conversation, especially after Kyle Whittingham made it clear on Monday that Tommy Carr is the starter moving forward for the “foreseeable future.”
Carr’s second start came in a 28-21 win over Rutgers, and he delivered a strong line: 22-of-27 passing for 266 yards, plus 54 rushing yards and a touchdown. What happens after this season is still up in the air, and it will depend on how Carr handles the final month. But if Underwood does end up in the portal, there are a handful of landing spots that stand out.
Ole Miss is one of them. Trinidad Chambliss is moving on after this season, which opens the door for a new quarterback.
Offensive coordinator John David Becker has already done well with Chambliss, and the system looks like a cleaner fit for Underwood’s skill set. At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, with elite arm talent and 4.4/4.5 speed, he has the kind of tools that jump off the screen.
The Oklahoma game is the one to watch if you want to see what he can do as a runner. In a read-option setup, especially something in the old Urban Meyer mold, he could really take off.
His rough season makes it easy to wonder how different things might have looked if he had stayed another year with Chip Lindsey. A change in offensive systems may have slowed his development more than anyone realized.
In the right environment, though, Ole Miss could be getting a five-star talent at a discount.
Missouri feels like the most natural match. Chip Lindsey is the common thread, and that matters.
The situation there depends on Austin Simmons, a senior who would have a fifth year available if he wants it. Simmons has thrown 16 touchdown passes and only two interceptions, and while he hasn’t offered much as a runner, pairing Underwood with Lindsey would be interesting.
There’s familiarity there, and Lindsey’s best games with Underwood came when Sherrone Moore wasn’t coaching, which made him less conservative. Simmons would likely return, but Underwood has already shown he can handle being a backup without creating issues.
He may not want to sit for a year, but Dante Moore did, and it worked. Moore was trending toward being a top-five pick before his recent injury.
Underwood could spend a season learning, reset himself, and still have two years left to prove what he can do.
Kentucky also makes sense, even if the Wildcats don’t have the NIL firepower of some SEC rivals. That might not matter here, because Underwood has already cashed in on NIL.
At this point, the next stop should be about getting him ready for the next level. He is not on track to be a draftable quarterback right now, and his trajectory needs to change.
Will Stein could help with that. Stein coached Moore last season and helped get him talked about as a potential No. 1 overall pick.
Kentucky’s Kenny Minchey is playing at a high level, with 16 touchdown passes and just one interception, and he also has another year left, so Underwood might have to wait. But that was the same kind of setup that worked for Moore with the same coach, and if Underwood is willing to be patient, it could work again.
Oregon is another possibility, and the Ducks have already shown they aren’t afraid to bring in former five-star quarterbacks through the portal. They’ve done it twice already, so why not a third?
It worked with Dante Moore, who is out for the rest of this season. Whether he returns or enters the NFL draft is still unclear.
Dylan Raiola’s future is also uncertain, and it’s not clear if he can play well enough to lock down the job for next season. If Moore leaves, Underwood and Raiola could be in the mix together.
Underwood is less polished as a passer, but he is a far more dangerous runner, and Oregon could even use both at times until he becomes more comfortable throwing the ball. The Ducks just fired their offensive coordinator, so that hire will loom large in any quarterback pursuit.
If Moore comes back and Raiola looks elsewhere, Underwood could end up following Moore’s path almost exactly.
USC rounds out the list. Jayden Maiava is a redshirt senior, so he has no extra year left, and there isn’t an obvious heir waiting to take over.
USC has talent in the quarterback room, but Lincoln Riley has already shown what he can do with quarterbacks, including Jalen Hurts. Underwood would have to learn a new system, but Riley has a track record with dual-threat passers and would know how to maximize him.
He would also be stepping into a situation where he’d have three years to play. Riley would be betting on himself, but the fit is hard to ignore.
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It is a pivotal moment because the new AD will inherit two of the schools biggest pressure points: football and basketball. Both programs are being watched closely, and the coaching contracts in place already include performance benchmarks that add another layer to the job. Whoever gets the seat will step into a role where expectations are high and the margin for error is thin. [Read more 🡒]
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For former Michigan linebacker Jimmy Rolder, the news was far less forgiving. He is out for the rest of the season after suffering a significant injury that will require surgery, a tough setback for a player trying to keep his momentum going at the next level. It leaves another Wolverines alum facing the hard reality of how quickly a promising year can change, and it adds another layer of concern to a Lions injury picture that is still very much in flux. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Escaped Rutgers But One Wolverines Problem Is Getting Harder To Ignore
Michigan got out of Rutgers with a win, but the way it got there only sharpened the concern around an offense that should have had more room to work. Rutgers came in with a weak rush defense, yet the Wolverines managed just 3.6 yards per carry, their worst showing against the Scarlet Knights this season, and the lack of efficiency made the whole operation feel tighter than it should have been. The defense did enough to keep Rutgers from stringing together many completions, but a couple of big plays still accounted for a lot of the damage and kept the game uncomfortable deep into the day.
The bigger issue is that this was not an isolated escape. Michigan has been living in close games, and coach Kyle Whittingham pointed to that pattern after another narrow result. When the defense is doing enough to keep the team in front and the ground game still cannot separate from an opponent with a vulnerable front, the margin for error gets thin fast. Add in the ongoing issues around scoring and kicking, and the Wolverines are left with a problem that is becoming harder to brush aside. [Read more 🡒]