Michigan Football Will Go As Far As Bryce Underwood Can Take It

Bryce Underwood still has all the talent that made him the No. 1 overall recruit in the country a year ago. His freshman season wasn't filled with as many splash plays or the kind of stats he's capable of, but everyone knows why now.

As a true freshman, Underwood dealt with issues that few college players ever have to deal with. The situation surrounding former head coach Sherrone Moore took essentially derailed Michigan's entire season and yet somehow, the Wolverines still went 9-3. With Kyle Whittingham now at the helm, and Jason Beck in charge of the offense, the sky is the limit for No. 19.

"You know, to play at this level in the Big 10 as a true freshman is really hard. So just the ability, just that he went through the whole year doing that, was impressive to be in that kind of situation," Beck said of Underwood. "You’ll absolutely have ups and downs. But to be able to do that was impressive."

With all of that nonsense behind him, Underwood is poised to break out. He now has a dedicated quarterbacks coach, a veteran head coach running the show and making sound decisions and an OC in Beck who is ready to put his talented sophomore in a position to succeed.

"You know, in terms of we just want to get him a lot of reps, a lot of work, try to build around his skill sets, and be able to see him look comfortable," Beck said. "To me, when I watch a quarterback, if their feet are moving a lot, that kind of reflects how they’re thinking, which means they’re thinking fast. They’re a little uncomfortable. They’re a little systematic, getting the reps, getting the work, so that can kind of all slow down, which will naturally happen in your second year of college football. Any time you get all those starts, you know that process is underway. But yeah, just reps, work, teach, develop, and let all that slow down and get more comfortable, especially in the pocket."

Another aspect of Underwood's game that should be improved is in the run game. At 6-4, 230 pounds, Underwood is a freaky athlete who can absolutely fly. Last year, Moore was openly scared to run the quarterback. With Beck, he's going to let Underwood do whatever he does best.

"Do what they do best," Beck said. "And so if they can run, then it’s a weapon, and they’ll be fine. If guys aren’t good runners, then they can get themselves hurt. But if guys are good runners, they’re comfortable doing that, and they excel at it, then you have good success. But that’s just part of playing the position.

"So you do have to be smart about it. You don’t want to run your quarterback 25 times unless you got a bye week or something to get him back. But it does seem to be part of Bryce’s skill set, like doing some of the QB run game. And when he pulls it down and goes, it looks pretty impressive. Now, we’re obviously not live. But we have a whole season of live film of what he did as a runner. And he did a nice job. So we’ll look to build on what he does well and utilize those talents."

And Underwood is certainly ready to do whatever he needs to do in order to move the ball and win games.

"I feel like just going into this year our mindset, whatever our team mindset is, you know, we'll take that into the season. So that's what we're gonna keep working toward," Underwood said. "Overall, for this year, my mindset is whatever my team needs — instead of, like, what do I need to do better? I feel like I'm doing whatever my team needs to be the best.

"I'm just going to use everything that I'm capable to do — everything I was blessed with from God is now going to be shown to the world."

And Michigan fans rejoice!