Kyle Whittingham puts Bryce Underwood on notice after shaky Michigan win
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Michigan football escaped Week 1 with a win, but the box score behind that win raised more questions than it answered. A college football season-opening scare against Western Michigan exposed problems Kyle Whittingham isn’t ready to pin on one player, even as he made clear that patience has a shelf life. Bryce Underwood delivered a Hail Mary to survive, and his head coach spent his postgame comments drawing a distinction between today’s job security and tomorrow’s.
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Kyle Whittingham says Bryce Underwood’s starting job is not permanent
Michigan needed a review, a gifted extra second and a 47-yard touchdown pass to JJ Buchanan just to beat a Western Michigan team that won 10 games and a MAC title a season ago. Underwood finished 12-of-22 for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and he also led the Wolverines on the ground with nine carries for 47 yards and a rushing score.
Whittingham didn’t dodge the obvious question afterward. He called Underwood the starter “right now,” but he added that the job isn’t guaranteed to stay that way. “It’s not something that’s infinite,” Whittingham said. “At some point, we’ve got to turn a corner, and we’ve got to see improvement.” He also said the coaching staff shares responsibility, not just Underwood, for failing to find a rhythm after the opening drive.
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Bryce Underwood’s rough night comes after a strong fall camp
The tone stood in contrast to how Whittingham described Underwood’s fall camp, when the sophomore reportedly looked sharp nearly every day. Whittingham had no clear explanation for what happened Saturday. “It’s unfortunate and disappointing because we see him every day and he’s been very sharp all through fall camp,” Whittingham said. “I don’t have a great explanation right now.”
Underwood’s final numbers get worse under closer inspection. He threw a pick-six before halftime and lost a fourth-quarter fumble that set up a Western Michigan field goal. His miracle touchdown pass accounted for nearly a third of his passing yards.
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A new coaching staff inherits Michigan’s most important sophomore
Whittingham arrived after 21 seasons at Utah with a reputation built on physical, run-heavy football.
Underwood joined the Wolverines as the No. 1 overall recruit in program history, and expectations for a leap forward were already high before he ever took a snap under the new staff. That approach leaned even harder on Underwood’s legs Saturday, since Michigan’s passing game rarely got untracked.
Underwood said he thought the game had ended in a loss before the clock correction gave him one final shot. “When I saw zeros on the clock, it looked like we lost the game,” Underwood said. “And then we had one second, and the thought was, give my guys an opportunity, and that’s what I did.”
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Oklahoma is next, and the pressure belongs to the coaching staff first
Oklahoma comes to Ann Arbor next, a big step up from an opponent that already pushed Michigan to the brink. Whittingham’s larger challenge isn’t managing the quarterback conversation. Michigan must turn Underwood, the highest-rated recruit in program history, into a player who fits its offense. The staff must first fix the mechanical and scheme issues that surfaced against Western Michigan. Pressure to bench Underwood only matters after the coaches make those adjustments.
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