True freshman Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood made the second start of his career on Saturday night and went 9-of-24 for 142 yards in Michigan’s 24-13 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners.
After the game, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore evaluated Underwood’s performance in the road loss.
“A lot of lessons to learn. As a staff, we gotta help him as well — do things and put him in a great position. He’s a freshman. We knew there’d be bumps in the road at some point,“ Moore said after the game.
”Not gonna give up on the kid, he’s just gotta keep working to get better.“
Moore said that Underwood handled the crowd noise and atmosphere “fine” and that it “was just the execution” that was lacking on offense.
“That’s everybody. It’s not just him,” Moore said. “And that’s O-line, that’s receivers, that’s running backs, whoever it is in those situations to make it easier for him.”
Moore also talked about what may have led to the lack of a passing rhythm between Underwood and Michigan’s receiving targets.
“Those are things we’ll have to look back at because there’s always different pieces to it, right? It’s route running, it’s spacing, it’s whether you drop a pass, whether you’re looking at the wrong things. So we’ll take a deep dive look and see how we can get better from it.”
Donaven McCulley was the only receiver to haul in more than one catch, and he accounted for 91 of Underwood’s 142 passing yards. Michigan will hope to get back on track offensively and likely will next Saturday at Michigan Stadium against Central Michigan, a team the Wolverines will be heavy favorites against. The lopsided matchup will give Underwood and the passing offense opportunities to gain cohesion moving forward.
