The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 65 T he term "savior" has been bandied about when discussing Michigan's early-enrollee freshman quar- terback Bryce Underwood. As the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 class accord- ing to the On3 Industry Ranking, Under- wood was going to draw national atten- tion wherever he decided to play football. That attention amplified when he flipped his commitment from LSU to play for his home-state Wolverines in late November. It amplified amidst a flurry of reports about his NIL package. It also amplified because of the offensive situation he de- cided to join in Ann Arbor. Whereas it was all but a certainty that Underwood would have backed up Gar- rett Nussmeier as a true freshman in Ba- ton Rouge, he is the favorite to be Michi- gan's Week 1 starter. The Wolverines are desperate for improved quarterback play after an anemic aerial attack in the first year of the post-J.J. McCarthy era. They tried three different starters in 2024 in Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle, but none were the answer. The Maize and Blue were tied for dead last out of 134 FBS programs in yards per pass attempt (5.4) and 127th in passer rating (111.87). They had to be one-dimensional with their ground game and hope their defense could carry them. Although the Wolverines still eked out eight wins, including back-to-back vic- tories against Ohio State and Alabama to end the campaign, head coach Sherrone Moore understood that clearly this was not a formula that would lead to champi- onship success. Michigan's offense must be more balanced with its defense — and be a threat vertically — in order to contend for titles again. Underwood's flip to Michigan made such a monumental splash because his tantalizing abilities and promise suggest that the Wolverines could make this of- fensive turnaround faster than expected. Comparisons to Cam Newton, who had one of the best single seasons in college football history, do not seem far-fetched. Given that Underwood enrolled early, Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene missed much of the spring with an injury and sophomore Jadyn Davis needs more time to season, Underwood most likely is going to put Michigan's offense on his shoul- ders. However, as I addressed in this space last year, Michigan fans should not ex- pect Underwood to carry the weight of the world with ease in his first college football season. The concept of an elite true freshman starting quarterback has all but evaporated since 2020 due to the advent of the transfer portal. From 2020 through 2023, none of the 39 quarter- backs in the top 125 of the On3 Industry Ranking in their respective cycles started more than seven games or threw more than 213 passes as a true freshman. Last year, only one of 10 quarterbacks in the top 125 for 2024 broke that mold: Nebras- ka's Dylan Raiola, who started all 13 games and posted 410 attempts. Head coaches understandably are put- ting more faith in veteran transfer quar- terbacks (e.g., Dillon Gabriel at Oregon, Will Howard at Ohio State and Riley Leonard at Notre Dame, a year ago) than in 18-year-olds who just attended their prom. Raiola's numbers last season further support this trend. He did not light the world on fire. He was below average to middling at best, ranking outside the top 80 nationally and 10th out 15 qualified Big Ten signal-callers in yards per attempt (6.9) and passer rating (129.92). Underwood's impact as a freshman may be more in this vein. His spring game performance on April 19 indicates as much. He completed 12-of-26 passes (46.2 percent) for 187 yards (7.2 per at- tempt) with a touchdown and a pick. Those numbers are not great out of con- text, and they lose some polish knowing that 88 of his yards were on a trick play on the final snap of the exhibition. Without that long touchdown, Underwood's yards per attempt would have been slightly be- low 4 (3.96). Now, the usual spring game caveats apply. Michigan competed in a split- team scrimmage where not all the start- ers are together. U-M was mostly vanilla on offense. Underwood was not able to showcase his dual-threat skill set in this exercise where minimizing injuries and eliminating hits to the QB are the most important goals. He has been on campus for only a few months and will have the summer to get more acclimated to the speed and complexities of this level. Underwood most likely will not be a star from the get-go. Yes, he should be better than what Michigan had at quar- terback last season. But fans need to be realistic about what to expect from Un- derwood in 2025. He will make incredible plays. He will make head-scratching ones. He probably will be up and down before his game really takes off in the years that follow. Michigan's success will not be depen- dent on Underwood being its savior this year. Rather, U-M just needs enough from him so that the running backs and defense do not have to do it all. ❑ INSIDE THE NUMBERS ❱ DREW HALLETT Don't Expect An Instant 'Savior' Michigan fans need to be realistic in their expectations for freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood in 2025. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Staff writer Drew Hallett has covered Michigan athletics since 2013. Contact him at drew.c.hallett@gmail.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @DrewCHallett.