Twenty-one completions, 230 yards through the air, two passing touchdowns and 25 yards on the ground — including two first downs — is more than a respectable statline. Saturday’s win over Washington was freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood’s most complete game with the Michigan football team thus far.
Underwood made far less errors caused by miscommunications or bad accuracy from either errant speed or height. He stayed in the pocket longer to fit passes into tight windows. And when he needed to, he also extended plays with his legs, multiple times throwing it on the run outside the pocket with precision or picking up first downs with his legs.
But even with the win, more consistency through the air and explosiveness on the ground — Underwood still wasn’t satisfied.
“We had a couple missed throws, which are going to be perfected going into practice this entire week,” Underwood said when asked to assess his performance. “But I just get better every single week.”
On the first play of the game, Underwood flung a pass far behind and above graduate wide receiver Donaven McCulley. Based off the opening play alone, it seemed as though Underwood may continue to struggle with lack of touch on short passes. But his 78% completion rate says otherwise.
Underwood’s 21-for-27 mark against the Huskies is far higher than his 56% rate going into the game. Michigan didn’t take many shots down the field, but the reliability of Underwood’s passing in the short and medium game allowed the Wolverines to string together plays for long, methodical drives.
Even to end a drive, Underwood found freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh on a bubble screen that Marsh took to the end zone between blockers to tally the Wolverines’ first passing touchdown of the day. Although it’s a play Underwood said Michigan had worked to perfection in practice, the tight window and speed of his pass were still precise.
Almost as important as completing passes and scoring touchdowns, Underwood also didn’t turn over the ball once — continuing that trend from throughout the season. Underwood still has just two interceptions on the season, both in moments of desperation, the most recent notably a forced pass in the fourth quarter last week against Southern California when looking for a comeback. And for a mobile quarterback, Underwood still has yet to turn the ball over by losing a fumble.
“He continues to take care of the football, which is huge, especially as a true freshman,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “He’s doing everything possible on the field, off the field, to reach that potential, and he just continues to do it. Proud of him.”
A combination of factors — throwing accurate passes, extending plays with his legs and taking care of the football — all lead to the conclusion that Underwood played a complete game.
When asked a similar question about whether Saturday’s performance against Washington was Underwood’s most consistent, Michigan coach Sherrone Moore had a different answer.
“Yeah, I think so,” Moore said. “It was pretty clean, especially throwing the football, decision making and thought process. There’s pieces that you want more, and there’s a high standard for him and what he wants. And he has a high standard for himself.”
In the first six games of the season, Underwood had many moments of brilliance and precision. But his performance against Washington was arguably the first time he put everything together against a formidable opponent. And even if Underwood still wasn’t satisfied with his most consistent performance to date, the Wolverines have an even higher bar for how their offense can perform.
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