No, he didn’t get benched.
Bryce Underwood will continue to start at quarterback for Michigan football.
For now.
“Bryce is our guy and we move forward,” Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham said Monday, Oct. 12,at his weekly news conference. "Continuing to stress to everybody about the importance of taking care of the ball. And with [Underwood] touching the ball every single snap, he's a big part of that. If we don't get this turnover thing fixed rapidly, then something's got to give. That’s all I can say right now.”
Now, Whittingham didn’t elaborate what he meant by something’s got to give.
But, in my mind, it was code for: If you keep throwing picks, Mr. Underwood, if you keep fumbling the ball, you are gonna end up standing next to me on the sideline.
So, I have just one question: why?
What makes Whittingham think that Underwood gives the Wolverines the best opportunity to win right now?
“6-foot-4, 230, runs like the wind,” Whittingham said. “Cannon arm, can make every throw and then some. Has a whole year of experience under his belt last year and five games this year, and so that being the case, and looking at the room as a whole, we feel that at this point he still gives us the best chance to win.”
At this point? Hmm, that still leaves plenty of wiggle room to change his mind.
You know what Whittingham didn’t say?
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He didn’t say: Underwood is doing a great job of making decisions.
And he didn’t say: Underwood is doing a great job of protecting the ball.
Nope. He said Underwood is big and tall and fast, has a strong arm and has experience.
To which I respond: So what?
In my mind, the most important attributes of a successful quarterback are the abilities to dissect the defense and make instant decisions, while protecting the ball – above all else.
And that’s where Underwood has struggled the most.
Underwood biggest turnover problem
During the bye week, Whittingham did a deep dive on his team and one stat jumped out to him.
The Wolverines have turned the ball over nine times (five fumbles and four interceptions), while generating just five turnovers – a minus-4 turnover margin, which is awful. It is tied for 122nd nationally (out of 138 FBS teams).
“The main thing, our big demise, is turnover margin,” Whittingham said. “If you look at it, if we continue to lose the turnover margin, we'll continue to lose. Period. Cut and dried. And so, we have got to get that fixed.”
There is nothing groundbreaking about that statement.
If I had a nickel – OK, let’s update that to a Bitcoin - for every time a football coach talked about turnovers being the difference, I’d be as rich as a Big Ten quarterback on an NIL deal backed by a billionaire.
Which brings us back to Underwood.
The Wolverines have lost five fumbles this season, which is tied for 109th nationally. Three of those were by Underwood.
And Underwood has thrown three interceptions in Big Ten play: one against Iowa and two against Minnesota.
Yes, he has been effective running the ball, racking up 212 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
But Underwood has a 132.4 passer rating, which ranks No. 106 nationally. That's thanks to a 59.3% completion percentage (No. 106) and just 881 yards passing (No. 102).
Those are not exactly encouraging stats to put it mildly.
"We took a step back on offense this past game a couple weeks ago," Whittingham said. "We're continuing to tailor the offense to try and put everybody, not just Bryce, in the best position to succeed.”
Tommy Carr 'sure looks good'
So, if Michigan made a change at QB, what is the best option?
The obvious choice is backup Tommy Carr, the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, the younger brother of Notre Dame star QB CJ Carr and the hometown kid from Saline who threw an emotional TD against UTEP.
Now, I know any backup quarterback is usually the favorite player on any team, especially with disgruntled fans. But Whittingham has done nothing to stop it. In answering a question about Underwood, he quickly pivoted and brought up Carr.
“Tommy did get a lot of good reps last week, which you would typically in a bye week, anyways – give the second-teamers a lot of work,” Whittingham said. “So, he got a lot of work, not because of anything, but it was a great opportunity to get the second-team guys work across the board.”
So, could he give Carr a couple of series against Penn State on Saturday?
“To be determined,” Whittingham responded. “He sure looks good in practice, like he has all throughout spring and fall camp. His small, tiny sample size he had in the game was positive. But right now, like I said, Bryce is our guy, and if we think that giving Tommy a series or two helps our chance to win, then you will see that.”
Why can't coaches fix Underwood?
Now, let’s think about this from Whittingham’s perspective.
Underwood is built like he was produced in an NFL laboratory. He’s big, tall, fast and has a cannon for an arm, as Whittingham said.
So, if Whittingham benches Underwood, there will be a sense of implied failure: He couldn’t fix him. He couldn’t get him to reach his potential, at least, from a pure athletic standpoint. He couldn’t find the right offense or the right plays or the right teaching techniques to pull everything out of a prototypically big, fast, strong-armed QB.
And no coach likes to admit failure.
Then, there is the elephant in the room.
The money question.
It’s been well-documented that Underwood is receiving a massive NIL deal from prominent football backers. What impact do salaries have on playing time decisions?
“Whatever less than zero is,” Whittingham said. “In fact, there was a movie, ‘Less than Zero,’ way back when.”
I’m actually old enough to remember that flick, a 1987 movie with a memorable line that seems to apply to this situation: “This is not recess. Everyone is accountable.”
That’s where we find Michigan right now.
To this point, this new coaching regime hasn’t been able to get Underwood to develop or take the next step to reach his obvious athletic potential – and they should be held accountable.
To this point, Underwood hasn’t performed – he simply needs to take care of the ball and make better decisions for starters - and he has to get that fixed. Or he should be held accountable and get benched.
This isn’t recess.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
Next up: Nittany Lions
Matchup: Michigan (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) vs. Penn State (3-2, 0-2).
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 17; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.
TV/radio: CBS; WCSX-FM (94.7).
Line: Wolverines by 6½.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What's keeping Bryce Underwood at QB for Michigan football?
