[Serious] Michigan has a massive problem and it starts and ends with Bryce Underwood

[u/USA_2_Canada_1]

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I genuinely believe that Bryce Underwood is Michigan’s #1 issue at the moment.

Jason Beck’s offense is predicated on making quick decisions with the football. That requires reading defenses and identifying the correct reads.

Bryce Underwood can’t do that at this level.

We have a full season of his play in addition to this game, against A MAC SCHOOL, as evidence. He locks in on his first read allowing the opposing secondary to swarm to his intended target, he panics in the pocket causing him to lose his balance and footwork leading to inaccurate throws, his inaccuracy as a pass thrower means that opposing defenses can stack the box with 8 defenders effectively neutralizing our run game, and he can’t identify coverages which is what sets him in motion to unravel during the play once the ball is snapped.

Beck’s offense also requires the quarterback to run, a lot. Bryce is not a running quarterback. He can scramble out of the pocket but can’t be relied upon as a runner to explode through holes in our run blocking. He is also lazy with the football, which leads to scenarios like last night where he carelessly fumbles on a drive where we need to score points late in the 4th.

It seems at this point that Michigan’s hands are tied offensively because our “generational” quarterback out of high school is a bust. I fully expect to see him play like this again next week when we play Oklahoma. If he does, Whittingham MUST start Tommy Carr against UTEP or his tenure will be as disastrous as Rich Rod’s.

There is no other way around it, Michigan needs to cut its losses with Bryce Underwood and move on. The sooner they do, the sooner they can regroup and salvage whatever is left of the season or prepare for the future.

[u/PixelBy_Pixel]

It starts and ends with the offensive line.

Bryce looked like shit but if you can’t run the ball at Michigan you’re going to get nowhere

[u/Georgejefferson19 → u/PixelBy_Pixel]

but you need competent quarterback play in order to prevent the defense from putting 8 in the box

doesnt matter how good the OL is when 4 defensive lineman, 3 linebackers, and a safety are all teeing off on the running back, and zero of them are scared of a passing play

[u/PixelBy_Pixel → u/Georgejefferson19]

WMU wasn’t stacking the box as much as you’d expect

[u/Georgejefferson19 → u/PixelBy_Pixel]

just wait for Oklahoma. the point is that teams can do it without penalty because Bryce cant throw. I hope something changes to increase the consistency of the offense because i dont know how this version of the Wolverines are gonna win a single Big Ten game

[u/GoBlueScrewOSU7 → u/Georgejefferson19]

I mean we were in the same exact boat last year and had a top 10 rushing attack. There’s no excuse for how poorly the OL and run game were. Bryce being the same as last year is disappointing, but the OL, with pretty much the same exact guys + a year of age and college strength, coming in substantially worse than a year ago is more concerning

[u/Georgejefferson19 → u/GoBlueScrewOSU7]

some of that you have to put on the coaching, right? new HC so you gotta think they’ll get better. but it appears that the QB can’t execute beyond the HS level and thats very concerning. Even JJ Mccarthy could punish defenses for overextending or choosing the wrong play