It was largely a night to forget on Saturday for Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood in Michigan’s season opener. Underwood was 12-of-22 versus Western Michigan in a 13-12 win — he threw for 170 yards with one passing touchdown, one rushing score, an interception, and a fumble. Michigan’s scoring drives came on the first and last possession of the game. A 47-yard Hail Mary netted Michigan the win, but the large majority of plays left a lot to be desired from Underwood.
FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt
had a lot to say about the start to Underwood’s sophomore season — and none of it was good.
Here are key quotes from Klatt on Underwood
- “I’m just telling you right now that Bryce Underwood regressed from year 1 to year 2. He’s throwing curl routes into sitting safeties. He’s throwing spot routes and leading those players into cover 2 corners. This is day 1 quarterback stuff. These are things that you can’t do as a quarterback. And this is going to be film that is going to be incredibly hard to watch.”
- “I’m just telling you right now that Bryce Underwood regressed from year 1 to year 2. He’s throwing curl routes into sitting safeties. He’s throwing spot routes and leading those players into cover 2 corners. This is day 1 quarterback stuff. These are things that you can’t do as a quarterback. And this is going to be film that is going to be incredibly hard to watch.”
- “They’re going to watch that film, and there’s going to be major questions about what his status is this week going into the Oklahoma game.”
Takeaways from Klatt’s comments
Klatt is right with all that he said about Underwood. And the film is hard to watch. This reel featuring all of Underwood’s dropbacks shows consistently poor footwork and throwing mechanics. The film also shows Underwood not reading defenses clearly and forcing the ball into double coverage.
Underwood’s going to have a tall task this Saturday when Michigan faces a talented Oklahoma team that features a tenacious defense. Oklahoma head coach Brett Venables has been a defensive mastermind throughout his coaching career, and the plan will likely be to pressure Underwood constantly. Underwood’s struggles against Western Michigan were a major wake-up call for him and the program — if he plays at that same level versus Oklahoma, it could get ugly on the field and on the scoreboard.
