While things didn’t go the Michigan Wolverines’ way in a 24-13 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood earned the respect of Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer.
“He played a really good defense today. That defense makes our practice really, really difficult because I never know what’s going on,” Mateer said. “So I can’t imagine being a young quarterback trying to play that defense.”
Oklahoma’s defense was able to consistently pressure Underwood, who was under
duress the entire game. Underwood was 9-of-24 for 142 yards. However, Mateer’s evaluation of Underwood goes beyond the stat sheet. Mateer sees a bright future for Underwood.
“He’s super talented. He was rolling out, making throws. He’s a lot better than I was as a freshman. That’s why he was rated the way he is,” Mateer explained. “You can tell he’s a confident kid. He put up a good fight. That’s not the end of his career, and he’s going to be a very, very good quarterback.”
Underwood faced adversity against Oklahoma, and now he’ll face it from pundits and naysayers. It happened to Arch Manning after Texas lost to Ohio State in Week 1, and it’ll happen to Underwood heading into Michigan’s Week 3 tilt against Central Michigan. With so much attention on Underwood nationally, everything he does, for better and for worse, is analyzed and scrutinized. However, perhaps Mateer’s evaluation is the one that will prove to be true — that Underwood is going to be a very, very good quarterback.
