Before we dive into the individual performance of Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood, we must first look at the ending of the game. Everyone who watched the end of Western Michigan at Michigan saw the clock hit 0:00, with the final score reading WMU 12, UM 7.
You saw Underwood throw a hail mary, on the game's final play, and it sailed out of bounds. The ball was live, with all zeroes on the clock. The Broncos were then set to enjoy a celebratory bus ride, across southwest Michigan, from Ann Arbor to Kalamazoo.
After all, they had just pulled off a 27 point upset over the #16 team in the nation.
There’s indisputable video evidence, and you can use your own eyes and ears, to go see it all over the internet, right now.
But then came an
official's review, which reversed the original call.
Underwood got one more try, and this time, he found JJ Buchanan in the end zone, and Michigan won, 13-12. Their fans then stormed the field like they had just won a national championship.
We were all basically saying to ourselves:
"what did we just watch?" or maybe "did what just happen, actually happen?"
We wer left to wonder what is real and what is make believe. In the words of P.M. Dawn: "reality used to be a friend of mine."
The Big Ten conference then sent out a press release, for those of us who were still awake, and it read in full:
Following video review, it was determined Western Michigan’s #18 started his jump from an established out-of-bounds position (left foot) and made contact with the ball with one second remaining on the clock. As shown in the provided video of what was viewed during the replay process, a side-by-side view of the play and the game clock, using a direct shot of the game clock in the stadium, was used to determine the final ruling.
Eighty-five minutes prior to the game, all broadcast cameras used for the replay system, including the camera on the game clock, are synced using a strobe system to ensure all cameras are aligned.
Per NCAA Football rule 4-2-3-a, “A ball not in player control, other than a kick that scores a field goal, is out of bounds when it touches the ground, a player, a game official or anything else that is out-of-bound, or that is on or outside a boundary line.” and thus the clock is stopped.
That is their story, and they are sticking to it. Once again, Michigan being Michigan means they get the calls. The big brand name, wealthy program gets their way. The overall theme is very similar to what former Northwestern guard Tre Demps said, a decade ago, after his team was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament, at the hands of Michigan, on a very controversial call.
Can WMU take legal action now?
After all, if college football is about anything these days, it's filing lawsuits. Hearing about one entity suing another is as ingrained in the game as the hash marks in 2026.
Ok, enough with all that, as everyone else is talking about it enough already.
On to Underwood individually, and his box score which reads:
12-22 passing for 170 yards, 7.7 yards, one TD, one INT and a QBR of 54.1. Now if the game had ended as it initially did, with the original call, Underwood's numbers would read 11-21 (52% completion) for 123 yards, or 5.8 yards per pass.
Those are pretty ugly numbers, especially when you consider he was playing a MAC level defense.
And for a guy who is widely considered to be the #1 overall pick in 2028, well, I guess maybe 2028 is much further ahead in the distance than it sounds like.
Yes, it was the first game only his second season, but his numbers last season were as pedestrian as it gets- 7.7 yards per attempt, 11 TDs against 9 interceptions, 60.3% completion. And he didn't get better as the season went along. Remember, this is the guy who was ranked the consensus #1 overall recruit in his high school class.
He was the blue chip of all blue chips, and he currently has a NIL deal that is estimated to be about $10,000,00-$12,000,000 in value.
Right now, he looks like he might just be the next Ron Powlus.
If you don't know who Ron Powlus is, he's the early 1990s Notre Dame quarterback who pundits infamously hyped up beyond belief. Beano Cook once said Powluswould win at least two Heisman trophies, and become the greatest Notre Dame quarterback of all-time.
Spoiler alert: Powlus never came even remotely close to doing any of those things.
Maybe it's too early to say that Underwood is that the next Powlus, but look at this tweet from one of the reporters for Michigan's On3 site:
Bryce Underwood was Michigan's lowest-graded player on offense on PFF last night with a 35.8 overall rating, the worst performance of his career by a decent margin (MSU last year, 40.5).Charted with 5 turnover-worthy plays. He had 15 total all of last season.
— Anthony Broome (@anthonytbroome) September 6, 2026
Also, PFF gave Underwood a 31.4 passing grade against Western Michigan last night. That was the second-worst mark among 110 qualifying quarterbacks in FBS, (a minimum 20 dropbacks is required). The numbers tell the story, but don't forget the eye test either.
If you watched the game, and you saw all the poor throws that Underwood made, the picture becomes even more clear. He just ain't it.
Members of the Michigan fanbase are calling to bench Underwood already. Maybe that's an overreaction.
Or maybe they're right.
This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: NFL Draft stock report week one- sell: Bryce Underwood, QB, Michigan
