Bryce Underwood was ready for the moment in Michigan’s 30-27 road victory over Nebraska on Saturday.
The freshman quarterback wasn’t asked to carry the offense with his arm, throwing for 105 yards. However, he made an impact on the ground with 61 rushing yards and, most importantly, led the Wolverines to scores on three of their final four possessions before sealing the win by running out the clock.
FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt couldn’t help but remark on how impressive the freshman’s composure is already.
“Bryce, his best trait so far is that he is clearly not overwhelmed by the stage,” Klatt said on the most recent episode of his podcast, “The Joel Klatt Show.” “For an 18-year-old true freshman, that’s something and not every true freshman can go out there and even just handle it. He clearly is not sped up. He is built for the moment.
“The environments, even on the road, I don’t feel have totally rattled him.”
Underwood played primarily mistake-free football in the Wolverines’ win over the Cornhuskers, with his only misstep being a fumble on a third-down scramble in the second quarter.
What is the next step in Bryce Underwood’s development as a QB?
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While Saturday marked Underwood’s first road conference start, he had a pretty good test of what to expect at Nebraska when Michigan took on Oklahoma earlier in September. That game didn’t go as well for Underwood and the Wolverines, with the quarterback completing just 9 of 24 passes for 142 yards in the 24-13 loss to the Sooners. However, Klatt previously said that he thought Underwood “played better than his stat line” suggested against Oklahoma.
Still, Underwood has some tweaks to make as a passer. He only completed 12 of 22 passes against Nebraska, lowering his completion percentage on the season to 56.9%. With Underwood showing promise with his poise and rushing (169 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns) already, growing as a passer is part of what’s next in his development, according to Klatt.
“Bryce Underwood is going to go from a really talented quarterback and talented thrower to a great manager and a talented passer,” Klatt said. “I think those two things are totally different, being a talented thrower and a talented passer, because being a passer means that you understand the proper pace and touch to put on the football at all times.”
Klatt explained that the difference between being a talented thrower and passer is like throwing a baseball compared to shooting a basketball. In further explaining his analogy, Klatt said that Underwood is doing more of the former, throwing fastballs, rather than the latter, which would be making shots from all over the court.
“You cannot throw a football with max velocity all the time, and that’s what he does,” Klatt said. “He throws too many fastballs, and he hasn’t learned how to change his pace and touch in order to create completions, because we’re not throwing the football here, we’re passing the football. Those are different things. Way too much heat on the throws, in particular in the short and intermediate routes.”
Bryce Underwood used his legs on multiple occasions in Saturday’s win over Nebraska, including when he ran for a 37-yard touchdown. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
To Klatt’s point, Underwood has completed just 47.4% of his passes on medium throws (10-19 yards down the field) and 67.5% of his passes on short throws (0-9 yards down the field), per Pro Football Focus. For reference, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, who leads the nation in completion percentage, has completed 50% and 87.9% of his passes on such throws, respectively. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (second in completion percentage) has completed 68% of his passes on medium throws and 90.9% of his passes on short throws. Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola (third in completion percentage) has completed 72.4% of his medium passes and 75.8% of his short passes.
The point is, Underwood hasn’t capitalized on as many easy opportunities as some of the other top quarterbacks in the Big Ten. If Underwood can turn that around, Klatt believes the rest of the Big Ten should watch out.
“Once he starts to understand and develop that [throwing the ball and passing the ball are two different things], he’s going to be really elite,” Klatt said. “You can see all the other things. The ability to play and pass with touch is what’s up next for him.”
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