Michigan football to unleash Bryce Underwood's running talent

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Part of the allure to Bryce Underwood as the No. 1 overall recruit in the country wasn't just his strong arm or the accuracy he displayed as the quarterback at Belleville — it was also his athleticism and his ability to extend plays with his legs; not just in terms of keeping his options open, but taking off and being a part of the run game. However, in his freshman campaign, Underwood averaged less than seven carries a game, and given that that number also accounts for sacks or moments when the pocket broke down, it's not exactly the type of number you would have expected at this time last year.

New Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham aims to change the way that Underwood is deployed.

The previous staff appeared to be more wont to force Underwood to be a typical pocket passer, with just a little bit of improvisation being on the table. As far as Whittingham sees it, the goal is to coach him up as much as possible and then let him fly.

"That’s part of his game — you don’t want to take that away from him," Whittingham said. "And last year, I thought he got a pretty good start relative to the circumstances in college football. He was just barely turned 18 when he was a starting quarterback at a major college football team. And so I think he handled it fairly well.

"A lot of room for improvement. He knows that, we know that. And he now has some dedicated guys, quarterback-wise, that are working directly with him. And we’ll see what kind of progress we can make in these next 15 practices."

As far as the run game aspect, expect to see both Underwood and Jordan Marshall (along with the other backs) to be big parts of the equation.

Unlike Underwood in his first year, Utah ran quarterback Devon Dampier nearly twice as much (12 times per game) while also having a strong run game with the tailbacks. The Utes, with Jason Beck leading the charge, had the No. 2 rushing offense in the country. And Underwood figures to be a big part of that.

"Our offensive coordinator, Jason Beck, does a masterful job of utilizing the players at his disposal and the talent and what they do well and tailoring the scheme to that," Whittingham said. "And so Jordan is a really good running back, obviously. Bryce is a dual-threat quarterback. Last year at Utah, we were second in the nation in running the football. We had a quarterback that was a very good runner as well. But Bryce, we think he can beat you from the pocket or with his legs. And then to have Jordan — a quarterback’s best friend is a strong run game — and Jordan helps provide that."

Dampier eclipsed 1,000 yards two years ago under Beck when the duo was at New Mexico, and he was 165 yards shy this past season. Conversely, Underwood had just 392 yards. Expect to see the Wolverines' signal caller to be much more involved now that he has a head coach and offensive coordinator who are eager to deploy him as such.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football to unleash Bryce Underwood's running talent

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