Michigan’s starting quarterback is officially returning for the 2026 season, as multiple reports on Monday night stated that Bryce Underwood will be back in Ann Arbor for his sophomore year.
The former
five-star recruit had an up-and-down first year in college, to put it lightly. Starting all 13 games for the Wolverines in 2025, Underwood completed 202-of-335 passes (60.3 percent) for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran 88 times for 392 yards and six touchdowns.
For every great game (vs. Washington, at Maryland) he had, Underwood had an equally not-so-great game (vs. Ohio State, at Michigan State). He had some stellar highlights, like his rushing touchdown at Nebraska and his perfectly-placed pass to Andrew Marsh vs Wisconsin. However, he also sped through his progressions — and oftentimes locking in on one receiver — and didn’t have the best footwork on his throws, leading to inaccurate throws and interceptions.
Of course, those things will happen when you don’t have a dedicated quarterbacks coach for an 18-year-old true freshman. That is also bound to happen when you have a mediocre (for Michigan’s standards) offensive line. The only game in which Underwood was not sacked at least once was vs Central Michigan. Yes, some of that was his own doing, but the pass protection was inconsistent all season. Pro Football Focus gave Michigan’s pass pro a 70.0 grade or higher in just five contests this season, with the games against Texas (35.5), Purdue (52.6) and USC (55.2) being the three worst performances of the year.
In order to get the very best out of Underwood and the entire offense, it all starts and ends with the overall play of the offensive line. Thankfully, Whittingham brought in one of the best offensive line coaches in the country in Jim Harding to help improve the group. Whittingham also hired a dedicated quarterbacks coach in Koy Detmer Jr. Heading into 2026, Underwood has all he needs to take a jump from Year 1 to Year 2 — no excuses.
Among the things I personally want to see Underwood improve at next season is his level of play in the games that matter most. In the Wolverines’ three toughest games of the season — at Oklahoma, at USC, vs. Ohio State — Underwood completed just 32-of-66 passes (48.4 percent) for 412 yards, two touchdowns and two picks. He also had four sacks and -4 yards rushing in those three games combined. With teams like Oklahoma, Iowa, Oregon, Indiana, Penn State and Ohio State on the 2026 schedule, Underwood will have to play his best week in and week out if the Wolverines are to have a shot at making noise in the Big Ten.
At the end of the day, Whittingham has his starting quarterback for 2026 locked in — which should help with recruiting guys from the transfer portal for the rest of the winter — and Underwood should have all the resources necessary to elevate his level of play next fall which, in turn, would help the offense as a whole.
