Michigan football is reeling after its second straight loss of the season, a game in which the defense was often found to be in short-field situations while the offense either couldn't move the ball or turned it over entirely. And both turnovers were on quarterback Bryce Underwood.
A week after Underwood had appeared to turn the corner, in the loss to Iowa, he looked more like he had in Week 1 against Western Michigan than he had the previous week. And given that there have been concerns about the former five-star and his ability to improve year over year, the concerns that many had going into the season became that much more founded.
CBS Sports college football insider Brandon Marcello spoke on what he's been hearing about Underwood in the aftermath
of the Minnesota game, and in his estimation, the problem has less to do with the new staff or the schemes as much as it has to do with Underwood.
"I (was) also told he just probably doesn't have a great healthy ecosystem around him," Marcello said. "Someone who's got several cars, is very much enjoying that big payday he got from Michigan just two years ago after flirting around with LSU as well.
"And you know, there's some question there among those about whether he's actually fully committed to football. Does he love football? Is he obsessed with football? Is he the type of player that is going to just absolutely envelop himself with that playbook and focus on the things he has to correct to get better?
"But when I hear things from people who would know that he just does not process things very well in live action, that should not be something he's dealing with in year two, in the middle of a season. To me, Bryce Underwood is the biggest problem that Michigan has right now. I know we want to talk about the culture and Kyle Whittingham and all that, but when you have a quarterback that just doesn't see things well and can't figure things out as the game goes along, you've got no shot in the Big Ten."
“Bryce Underwood is the biggest problem #Michigan has right now.”
— Emily Proud (@emily_proud) October 5, 2026
“There’s some question there among those about whether he’s actually fully committed to football. Does he love football? Is he obsessed with football?"
Strong reporting from @bmarcello on the CFB Insiders:… pic.twitter.com/4BxvI4JCJs
Marcello continues, noting that he doesn't believe that there are widespread issues behind the scenes right now in Ann Arbor. But he also notes that Underwood isn't struggling because he's lazy -- it's more to do with Underwood needing to be more engaged in a more perpetual way than he currently is.
"Well, I don't know if there's actually any issues in that locker room," Marcello said. "I think that when it comes to Bryce Underwood's issues, as far as just being a football player, those are issues that he's got to look inward to himself, based off the people I've spoken to that know him and have coached him, that he's just got to recommit himself to football, overlook some of the issues he may have had in the past, all of, as Richard said, dealing with so many different coaches in his life, dating back to high school, and just fully buy into everything there at Michigan and try to become a better football player.
"This guy is immensely talented. We all know that. But at this point in his career, I know he's had a lot of coaches, but you just can't go on the road and throw two interceptions and not produce anything really in the passing game. You're struggling to eclipse 100 yards against a Minnesota defense. That's just OK. There's some things here that I think Bryce Underwood just needs to commit to himself. And also, Bryce Underwood, a kid, by the way, that I'm told that once you get him in that room, in the quarterback's room, he's fully engaged. When you're outside that room, when you're outside the facility, you've got to focus on football almost 24-7 to reach that type of status you've got to be and to be successful at a place like Michigan."
Whether this is true or not remains to be seen. Regardless, the Wolverines have a lot of issues that go beyond Underwood, as the run game and the offensive line have regressed intermittently throughout the year.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: CBS insider reveals troubling concerns about Bryce Underwood
