Michigan’s 3-2 start has put Bryce Underwood squarely in the spotlight, and not in the way the Wolverines imagined when they landed the Detroit native. After Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, the first time Michigan had fallen to the Golden Gophers since 2014 and the first time it lost on the road there since 1977, the conversation around the offense quickly turned toward the freshman quarterback.
Underwood arrived in Ann Arbor after Michigan flipped him from LSU, a move that came with plenty of hype and a reported $12 million four-year NIL deal. He was supposed to be the player who dragged the program back toward the top. Instead, his play has fueled frustration, and talk of a possible benching is no longer just background noise.
The issue for Michigan is obvious: Tommy Carr is waiting behind him, but Underwood is making $3 million a year and roughly $250,000 every game, whether he plays or not. That makes the decision far messier than a normal depth-chart shakeup. The NCAA’s rules prevent teams from building an athletic performance contingency into NIL contracts, which leaves Michigan in a bind if it wants to make a change.
Underwood’s production has given the critics plenty to work with. His footwork has been shaky, his reads have been slow, his decisions have been questionable, and while the arm talent is there, the accuracy has not consistently followed. Against Minnesota, the offensive line gave him little help, but that excuse does not cover the full body of work.
There have been flashes. Against Iowa, Underwood showed signs of what Michigan hoped it was buying. But even in that game, the offense stalled in the red zone, including a drive that ended with an interception by Underwood at the one-yard line.
If Michigan does decide to turn to Carr, the bigger question becomes what happens with Underwood after that. A transfer portal move would be the cleanest exit, but it is hard to see why he would walk away from the money he is making in Ann Arbor. At the same time, sitting as a backup does little for a player who wants to reach the NFL.
The contract itself adds another layer to the mess. Underwood’s NIL money is funded by the Champions Circle NIL collective, not the university directly, but the effect is the same: Michigan’s donors are paying the bill. And because there is no buyout in the deal, the Wolverines have no built-in escape hatch unless Underwood leaves on his own and forces a new negotiation somewhere else.
For now, Michigan heads into its bye week with major offensive questions hanging over the program, and Underwood’s place in the lineup sits at the center of them.
In Other News...
Michigan Offense Is Taking Heat From One Of Their Own
After Michigans loss to Minnesota, one of the programs own took aim at what he saw from the offense. Jake Butt, the former Wolverines tight end who now works as a Big Ten analyst, described the performance as poor and said the unit lacked effort, a blunt assessment that landed hard for a team already searching for answers.
The criticism comes with Michigan still sitting near the bottom of the national rankings in total offense and rushing yards through five games, a jarring place for a program built on physical play and run-game identity. Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham also weighed in, saying Michigan has to make tough decisions and real adjustments to get moving, including the possibility of a quarterback change, as the pressure to fix the offense keeps building. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan May Have Just Shown The Only Way To Stop The Slide
The red zone trip that led to Jordan Marshalls touchdown was one of the few clean moments Michigan had in a 20-14 loss to Minnesota, and it stood out because it looked like the kind of sequence the offense has been searching for all season. After a series of successful plays, the Wolverines finished the possession with the kind of execution that has too often been missing when drives get tight and the field shrinks.
For a team still trying to stop the slide, that single trip offered a small but useful reminder of what works. Michigan did not get many chances near the goal line, but when it finally did, the drive suggested there is at least a blueprint there, even if the larger picture around it remains discouraging. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Offense Has Become A Bigger Problem Than Fans Feared
Michigans latest setback in Minneapolis was about more than just another loss. The 20-14 defeat to Minnesota dropped the Wolverines to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten, and it came with the kind of offensive frustration that can linger long after the final whistle. The ground game never really got going, the quarterback play was uneven, and the tight end production never gave the offense the dependable middle of the field presence it needed.
Pro Football Focus grades backed up what the eye test suggested, with wide receiver JJ Buchanan, center Jake Guarnera and right tackle Blake Frazier emerging as the top offensive performers. Beyond them, though, the chart was thin, and Zack Marshalls low grade at tight end reflected how few answers Michigan had in the passing game and around the line of scrimmage. For a team already staring at an 0-2 Big Ten start, the bigger concern now is whether theres a fix here or just a longer search for one. [Read more 🡒]