ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Two weeks in and freshman Bryce Underwood has punched well above his experience level.
The Wolverines’ quarterback got his feet wet against New Mexico and excelled, throwing for 251 yards and a touchdown. Underwood wasn’t nearly as prolific in a Week 2 loss to Oklahoma, hampered by a slow start, struggles in the run game and some communication errors with his wideouts.
Still, Michigan quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey has liked what he’s seen so far. He pointed to Underwood’s lack of turnovers through two games, an issue that plagued the Michigan quarterbacks a season ago.
“One of the things we talked about is taking care of the football. He’s done that,” Lindsey said Wednesday. “He’s been very, very good with his hands, keeping two hands on it in the pocket, not throwing it into a lot of traffic. That’s good. But lots to build off out of that (Oklahoma) game, and hopefully a lot to learn from.”
Perhaps chief among those miscues: The miscommunication issues that played out on live TV with the receivers. On at least two separate occasions, Underwood made errant throws to receiver Donaven McCulley. The first was on a play McCulley could be seen blocking his defender and not looking for the football; the other where McCulley broke inside on a route when Underwood threw the football to the outside.
Michigan struggled to sustain much offense against the Sooners, reaching Oklahoma territory three times in the first half without scoring.
Lindsey suggested Underwood may have had issues diagnosing run-pass option calls at the line of scrimmage in his road debut.
“May be a young player,” Lindsey said. “We’ve got to make sure we all get the call on that, and sometimes that didn’t happen. It’s part of the learning process and not a lot of fun. And I think as a coach, you’ve got to decide if it’s worth having those opportunities or not. Something we’re taking a look at this week, for sure.”
Of course, Saturday’s struggles were not squarely on Underwood. The play-calling could be considered conservative at times, while the rushing attack failed to establish a rhythm — take Justice Haynes’ 75-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter away, and Michigan’s backs averaged just 2.4 yards per carry.
With Central Michigan on deck this Saturday (Noon, Big Ten Network), the hope is that Underwood and the offense can get back on track quickly. Lindsey says he and the staff have given their freshman quarterback plenty of latitude at the line of scrimmage so far, and watched Underwood change protections twice at the line of scrimmage against Oklahoma and three times in Week 1.
“We’ve got to keep growing in that area,” Lindsey said. “That’s some place we can improve on. We can talk to him now, which is good, in the headset but at 15 seconds (on the play clock) it cuts off. If you’re in the huddle and you come out, you’re under the gun, you can’t hear (us) anymore. I think he’s done a really nice job with that stuff so far.
“I think it’s that fine line, too, of asking him to do too much or not enough, and I think we’re still in that process of figuring out what’s smart.”
