Jake Butt Wants Michigan to Bench Bryce Underwood

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Former Michigan tight end Jake Butt has been critical of the Wolverines’ offense all season, and the bye week has not softened him. Butt ripped the Minnesota film for a “lack of effort” on Monday, and his fix starts at the position everyone in Ann Arbor is watching. He wants Michigan to bench Bryce Underwood and start freshman Tommy Carr.

There is no doubt that Michigan’s offense has been hard to watch this season. The Wolverines are 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten, and they have scored 20 points or fewer in four of their five games, according to their schedule and results. They are off this week and return Saturday, Oct. 17, at home against the Penn State Nittany Lions. If first-year head coach Kyle Whittingham decides to bench Underwood for Carr, it is going to create a massive ripple effect on the football program.

Jake Butt Wants Tommy Carr In Over Bryce Underwood

The Athletic talked to coaches, scouts and analysts on Tuesday about what has gone wrong with Michigan’s offense this season. Butt, now a Big Ten Network analyst, did not hedge. He said:

You’ve got to put in Tommy Carr. The players at Michigan are not dumb. If you say that there’s a standard and an expectation at Michigan, and if Bryce is not meeting that standard and expectation, then you have to try someone else.

Butt is not the only person around the program unhappy with the scheme. Leaked group-chat messages attributed to Michigan tight end Zack Marshall tore into offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s offense earlier this week.

Carr is the grandson of former Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr, and Whittingham named him the backup quarterback on Aug. 31, ahead of Colorado State transfer Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi. He has seen the field once, in the 52-17 win over the UTEP Miners on Sept. 19, completing 2-of-2 passes for 23 yards and a touchdown. That is a sliver of hope for the Wolverines if they turn to the freshman quarterback.

Bryce Underwood’s Numbers Have Not Held Up

Underwood has been struggling big time this season for Michigan. He has completed 59.3% of his passes, 67-of-113, for 881 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions. Underwood has also rushed 57 times for 212 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 3.7 yards per carry.

What a Quarterback Change Would Cost Michigan

Underwood is a sophomore who arrived as the No. 1 recruit in the country. He has been playing like anything but it. Making a quarterback change from Underwood to Carr would signal a new era for Wolverines football, and it would also be Whittingham benching the most valuable asset the program has.

Whittingham has not hinted at a change. He said after the Minnesota loss that the offense has a “long ways to go,” per the Detroit News. The bye gives him two weeks to decide whether that is a coaching problem or a quarterback problem.

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