Bryce Underwood Shows Improvement in Michigan's Upset Win Over Oklahoma

Bryce Underwood is a work in progress.

There was much made of Underwood's struggles in Michigan's 13-12 miracle win over Western Michigan to start the season. Even Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham, who inherited Underwood when he took the Michigan job, went on the record to say that his time as the starter was not "infinite." Clearly, with the same Oklahoma that tormented Underwood as a freshman coming to town, the pressure was on the young quarterback.

It'll relent a bit. For now.

Michigan, which fell out of the AP Top 25 after last week's close call and was largely written off by the public at large, reminded us all that you should never overreact to what you see in the first game of a season. The Wolverines upset No. 11 Oklahoma 17-10 at The Big House Saturday, improving to 2-0.

And Underwood looked much better, too, though he didn't look great. He looked more comfortable as a passer and had better command of the offense, as well as his footwork, but still he completed only 9 of his 17 pass attempts for 111 yards. The biggest difference this week was how Michigan used their QB.

Underwood had 9 carries for 47 yards against Western, but very few of his carries were by design. Still, the 9 carries in that game matched his career-high, as the old Wolverines coaching staff rarely utilized Underwood as a rusher despite his ability to do so.

Kyle Whittingham and new offensive coordinator Jason Beck took a different approach. Underwood carried the ball 18 times against Oklahoma, doubling his career-high. Many of the 18 carries were on designed runs, and they were the most of any Wolverine, with Jordan Marshall's 11 carries finishing a distant second.

The plan was effective. Underwood led Michigan with 87 yards rushing, with nearly half of them coming on a touchdown run to open the scoring in the first quarter.

The problem is, as promising as these developments were, Oklahoma caught on. Underwood completed 7 of his 13 pass attempts for 96 yards in the first half, but went 2-for-4 for 15 yards in the second. He rushed for 33 yards in the second half, but needed 11 carries to get there. Once Oklahoma caught on to the new game plan with Underwood and adjusted, the Wolverines offense once again found itself struggling to move the ball.

The only points Michigan scored in the second half came after a Jyaire Hill interception set the offense up at the Oklahoma 6-yard line.

While Bryce Underwood became the first Michigan QB to rush for at least 75 yards and a touchdown in multiple games since Devin Gardner (2013-14), it was also the first time Michigan has won consecutive games scoring 17 points or fewer since 1998. It's the first time the Wolverines have started a season 2-0 while scoring fewer than 20 points in each game since 1948.

The Wolverines are 2-0, but much like their quarterback, they're also a work in progress. A win is a win, but those aren't infinite, either.