Bryce Underwood’s first game of 2026 did little to quiet the noise around Michigan’s quarterback situation, and Greg McElroy thinks the pressure could keep building fast.
Underwood, the consensus No. 1 prospect in the class of 2025, entered the season with a freshman stat line that included 2,428 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions, plus 392 rushing yards and six scores on the ground. Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham spent the offseason pointing to the previous staff’s issues in Underwood’s development and said he expected the quarterback to take a step forward in 2026.
That didn’t happen in Week 1. Underwood ran for 47 yards and a touchdown, but he also coughed the ball up in the final two minutes. Through the air, he completed 12 of 21 passes for 170 yards, along with a controversial touchdown and an interception in Michigan’s 13-12 escape against Western Michigan.
On Monday, Whittingham addressed the quarterback’s grip on the starting job and made it clear the leash is not endless, saying, "it's not something that's infinite."
McElroy then took that point and pushed it further on ESPN’s "Get Up," arguing that Underwood’s production was the kind plenty of college quarterbacks could match. "It almost looks like he's regressed," McElroy said.
"The one thing to just cap it off, the first Hail Mary, he throws it out of the back of the end zone. That's inexcusable, it cannot happen, it's the worst throw you can possibly make.
Full accounting, he's got to be very careful and he's got to play better because based on what we saw, a lot of guys can produce at the level he produced at last week and he can definitely get replaced if he doesn't pick it up."
Michigan now turns right around and faces Oklahoma at Noon EDT on FOX in Michigan Stadium, a matchup that looks anything but forgiving for a quarterback trying to settle in.
The Sooners’ defense was a wrecking ball in SEC road wins in 2025, including a 23-21 upset of Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in mid November. All 11 of Oklahoma’s 2026 defensive starters were major pieces of that unit last season.
And Michigan has already seen what that matchup can do. In last season’s 24-13 loss at Oklahoma, Justice Haynes broke loose for a 75-yard touchdown run, but that was the Wolverines’ only trip to the end zone. Underwood finished 9-of-24 passing for 142 yards, and Michigan managed just 288 total yards.
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Hayden Hansen Just Gave Oklahoma A Needed Answer Before Michigan
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John Mateer spread the ball around to multiple receivers, and that balance was part of the encouraging takeaway for Oklahoma. But Hansens catch may have been just as important in the bigger picture, because it showed the Sooners have another option they can trust when Michigan starts squeezing the field and every possession gets more valuable. [Read more 🡒]