The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542067
24 THE WOLVERINE ❱ JANUARY 2026 BY CLAYTON SAYFIE AND CHRIS BALAS M ichigan football fin- ished the regular season 9-3 and is slated for the Citrus Bowl Dec. 31 in Orlando, Fla. The Wolverines got great performances from its running backs this year — when they were healthy — while highly touted frosh quarterback Bryce Underwood had his ups and downs. Defensively, the units were stout, but not nearly as strong as they were antici- pated to be in the preseason. And in the third phase of the game, U-M's special teams left much to be desired. Here is how The Wolverine graded out the team on a position-by-position basis this season along with their midseason grades as benchmarks for comparison. QUARTERBACKS: C+ (Midterm grade: B+) Underwood completed 179 of 293 passes for 2,229 yards with 9 touch- downs and 6 interceptions, plus had 323 yards and 5 scores on 74 carries. He ranks 81st nationally in passer rating accord- ing to CFBstats.com. While he had some really good games, he also shrank in the bigger games. He connected on only 32 of 66 throws for 412 yards with 2 touch- downs and 2 interceptions in losses to Oklahoma, USC and Ohio State. "I don't think you'd ever be satis- fied unless we were undefeated and No. 1-ranked in the country," former head coach Sherrone Moore said when asked if he thought they'd maximized Underwood this year. "And you probably still wouldn't be. I don't think you ever can be satisfied at any point with anybody and what we've done. But the progression that he's made has been really good, and we're going to continue to keep progressing." Underwood started to turn the corner at Northwestern with 280 yards passing (though 2 interceptions) and Maryland, when he completed 16 of 23 throws for 215 yards with 2 scores. Moore was happy with the progress in a few areas in particular. "Learning the playbook, knowing what's going on," he said. "Being able to make some spectacular throws like he has throughout the year, throwing on the move, throwing in the pocket, throwing different things. "But I think definitely just continuing to work on the little fun- damentals. Start with your feet, make sure your feet are right. Make sure your eyes are exactly where they need to be, not looking at rushes. But everybody else has to continue to get better around him, too. All the blame always gets pointed at the quarterback, whether it was Bryce, whether it was J.J. [McCarthy], whether it was Cade [McNamara]. What'd the quarterback do wrong? Everybody else has to be good around him, as well." REPORT CARD Grading The 2025 Michigan Football Team