Michigan Beats Oklahoma, But Bryce Underwood Still Has a Lot to Prove

Michigan is 2-0.

That is the good news.

The bad news is that I still have absolutely no idea how good this football team actually is.

A week after needing one of the strangest endings you will ever see to survive Western Michigan 13-12, Michigan turned around and beat No. 11 Oklahoma 17-10 in another game that was ugly, physical, frustrating and somehow exactly the kind of game Michigan seems comfortable playing right now.

This is not a team that is going to win style points.

This is not a team that is going to light up the scoreboard.

And based on what we have seen through two games, this is definitely not a team that can rely on Bryce Underwood to stand in the pocket and carve defenses apart.

Michigan won anyway.

That might actually be the most confusing part.

Underwood came into college football as one of the most hyped quarterback prospects in the country, and there is no question the physical talent is real. You can see it when he moves. You can see it when the pocket breaks down. You can see it when a defense thinks it has him contained and suddenly he is 15 yards downfield.

What I am still waiting to see is the elite quarterback part.

Against Oklahoma, Underwood completed only 9 of 17 passes for 111 yards. He did not throw a touchdown. He did not throw an interception either, which is an improvement after the mistakes against Western Michigan, but Michigan clearly did not trust this game to be won through the air. Head coach Kyle Whittingham basically admitted as much afterward, noting that the game plan leaned heavily on Underwood’s legs while also acknowledging that the passing game has to improve because Michigan will not always be able to play this way.

That is where the concern starts for me.

If we are talking about Bryce Underwood like he is supposed to be one of the future elite quarterbacks in college football, at some point I need to see him actually throw the football like one.

Right now, I see a very talented athlete playing quarterback.

That is different.

Underwood can extend plays.

He can escape pressure.

He can beat a linebacker to the edge.

He can take off on third-and-8 and turn a broken play into a first down.

He showed all of that against Oklahoma.

His 38-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the best offensive play Michigan had all day. He finished with 87 rushing yards on 18 carries, which was by far Michigan’s most productive source of offense.

And to be fair, that matters.

Quarterback mobility is not some side skill anymore. If your quarterback can consistently turn a sack into an eight-yard gain, that completely changes how defenses play you. But there is a huge difference between being a dangerous runner and being an elite quarterback.

That is the question I have with Underwood right now.

Is he a great quarterback who also happens to be athletic?

Or is he an elite athlete who is still trying to become a great quarterback?

Through two games, I think it is clearly the second one.

And that is why I am not ready to buy into the hype yet.

Last week against Western Michigan, Underwood went 12-of-22 for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Michigan’s only passing touchdown came on a 47-yard Hail Mary on the final play after one second was put back on the clock. He also lost a fumble, and Michigan’s offense spent most of the game doing absolutely nothing against a MAC team.

This week was better.

But better is relative.

Nine completions for 111 yards is not exactly screaming Heisman Trophy.

Michigan also once again struggled to run the football conventionally. Jordan Marshall had only 32 yards on 11 carries, while Savion Hiter managed six yards on eight carries. Underwood was basically the running game.

That is not sustainable.

You cannot go through a Big Ten schedule asking your quarterback to carry the ball 18 times because your offensive line cannot consistently create movement for the running backs.

Eventually, somebody is going to spy Underwood.

Eventually, somebody is going to make him stay in the pocket.

Eventually, Michigan is going to play a defense that says, “Fine, Bryce. Beat us with your arm.”

That is when we are really going to learn what he is.

Because right now, Michigan is winning games despite not having a functioning downfield passing attack.

That sounds like an insult.

It is also kind of impressive.

The real reason Michigan won Saturday was the defense.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer came into the game as one of the more dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks in the country, but Michigan completely controlled him. Mateer went 17-of-33 for 189 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while adding 45 rushing yards. Oklahoma managed just 289 total yards and converted only three of 13 third downs.

That was the game.

Michigan’s defense kept putting the offense in positions where it did not need to do much.

The Wolverines led 10-0 at halftime despite barely moving the ball through the air.

Oklahoma finally broke through in the third quarter when Mateer hit Mackenzie Alleyne for a 22-yard touchdown, and then the Sooners tied it 10-10 early in the fourth quarter with a field goal.

At that point, it felt like Michigan might finally run out of miracles.

Then Jyaire Hill intercepted Mateer and gave Michigan the short field it needed. Jordan Marshall punched in the go-ahead touchdown from one yard out, and Michigan’s defense closed the door.

That is two weeks in a row where Michigan has basically said, “We are not going to play pretty. We are not going to make this easy. But you still have to beat us.”

Western Michigan almost did.

Oklahoma could not.

And that brings me back to the larger question with this Michigan team.

How much should we care that the wins are ugly if they keep winning?

At some point, probably a lot.

You can survive Western Michigan playing like this.

You can survive Oklahoma playing like this when your defense forces turnovers and holds them to 10 points.

But Michigan still has Penn State, Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State sitting on the schedule.

Good luck beating those teams with 111 passing yards.

That is where the fraud conversation around Underwood becomes legitimate.

I am not saying Bryce Underwood is a bad player.

That would be ridiculous.

I am saying the label attached to him does not match the player we are currently watching.

An elite quarterback should be able to beat you with his arm.

Underwood has not shown that consistently.

An elite thrower should be able to process coverage, deliver the football accurately outside the numbers and punish defenses that stack the box.

Underwood has not shown that consistently either.

What he has shown is that he is extremely dangerous when a play breaks down.

He is strong.

He is fast.

He is hard to tackle.

And Michigan is clearly comfortable using him as a weapon in the running game.

That can win you football games.

It just might not make you the quarterback everyone thought you were getting.

There were also multiple throws Saturday that could have been intercepted, and even Whittingham acknowledged that Michigan cannot keep relying on Underwood’s rushing ability as its primary offensive solution.

That is the difference between criticism and overreaction.

Underwood is still young.

There is plenty of time for him to develop.

But if we are evaluating what he is right now instead of what recruiting services told us he would become, I do not see an elite passer.

Not yet.

Michigan fans can get mad at that if they want.

They are also 2-0.

That is the funny part.

This team might be incredibly flawed and incredibly difficult to beat at the same time.

And honestly, that feels like Michigan football.

Run the ball.

Play defense.

Win ugly.

Make the other team miserable.

Hope the quarterback makes one or two explosive plays.

It worked against Oklahoma.

What This Loss Means for Oklahoma

For Oklahoma, this one hurts.

Not because losing at Michigan is some embarrassing result.

Michigan is still Michigan, and winning in the Big House is never easy.

The problem is how Oklahoma lost.

The Sooners had every opportunity to win this game.

Michigan had 263 total yards.

Underwood threw for 111.

Michigan committed 11 penalties for 90 yards.

And Oklahoma still could not capitalize.

That is brutal.

Oklahoma's defense did enough.

If you hold Michigan to 17 points and keep its passing offense basically nonexistent, you should expect to win the football game.

Instead, the offense turned it over twice and repeatedly failed on third down.

Mateer was never comfortable.

The running game did almost nothing.

Oklahoma finished with only 100 rushing yards as a team, and no running back even reached 40 yards.

That is where the concern should be.

The SEC is not going to get easier.

Oklahoma now sits at 1-1, and Brent Venables can say there is no panic or doubt in the locker room, but the margin for error already shrank dramatically.

A nonconference loss does not kill your playoff chances anymore in the 12-team era.

But now Oklahoma cannot afford to stumble through conference play.

If they finish 9-3 with this loss on the résumé, they are going to need help.

If they lose three SEC games after this, the playoff conversation is basically over.

That is what makes early-season ranked losses different now.

They do not end your season.

They remove your safety net.

Oklahoma has no safety net anymore.

The Sooners have to clean up the offense, protect Mateer better and find some consistency

in the running game before the SEC schedule starts grinding them down.

The talent is there.

The defense is good enough.

But Saturday showed that Oklahoma is not good enough offensively to survive mistakes against quality teams.

Michigan Is 2-0, but the Questions Are Getting Louder

Michigan deserves credit.

They beat a ranked team.

They are undefeated.

Their defense looks legitimate.

And Bryce Underwood made the biggest offensive play of the game.

Those are facts.

But I still walked away from Saturday thinking Michigan has more questions than answers.

Underwood does not look like an elite passer.

The offensive line is not consistently creating running lanes.

The offense depends too much on quarterback improvisation.

And the Wolverines have now scored 30 total points in two games.

That is not exactly an offensive revolution.

What Michigan does have is a defense that keeps giving them chances.

That might be enough for a while.

It was enough against Western Michigan.

It was enough against Oklahoma.

Eventually, though, somebody is going to score 30.

And when that happens, Bryce Underwood is going to have to prove he can do more than escape the pocket and run.

That is when we find out whether the five-star quarterback is really there.

Or whether Michigan simply has one hell of an athlete taking snaps.

For now, Michigan is 2-0.

Ugly.

Confusing.

Flawed.

And somehow still undefeated.