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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Bryce Underwood has come under fire all week. That's to be expected when you're the starting quarterback for a blueblood program like Michigan and you nearly lose to a MAC school in Western Michigan. But it's been made worse by how he performed, how Michigan won, and the amount of money the school paid to bring him in.
After the near-loss to Western Michigan, head coach Kyle Whittingham said Underwood's starting job "is not something that's infinite." When reporters later asked Underwood about it, he claimed he hadn't seen the comments.
On Thursday's episode of "First Take," ESPN's Stephen A. Smith issued a blunt reality check to Underwood regarding his reaction to Whittingham's comments.
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"You always have to make sure you give the impression that you care. It's incredibly important when you're in that position, because when you do that and you give off that imagery, it can come back to bite you," Smith said. "Nobody should accuse you of not caring. Nobody should assume that you don't care, but they're going to do that anyway. And then when they look at you and they see that level of nonchalance that they believe exists — might not have been nonchalance at all, might have been totally his personality — but that's how it looked, and appearances matter no matter what people tell you.
"You've got to make sure you're careful not to give the school and the public the impression of nonchalance, because you don't want the coach to have that as an excuse to treat you differently than you'd like," Smith added.
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Michigan beat Western Michigan 13-12 on a last-second Hail Mary from Underwood — but only after replay officials ruled a Western Michigan defender touched the ball out of bounds with one second left, restoring the clock and giving Underwood a second shot. The call has remained controversial since, as TV broadcasts appeared to show the clock hitting zero before that touch happened.
The rest of the game, Underwood didn't look great. He completed just 12 of 22 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown, with one interception, to go along with 47 rushing yards and a rushing score. Against a program like Western Michigan, that's simply not good enough — especially for a quarterback Michigan paid $12.5 million to bring in.
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Whittingham ultimately owes nothing to Underwood. He just took over the program and wasn't part of the previous regime that recruited Underwood in the first place. In the modern era of college football, programs and players alike can be quick to move on, chasing a new team or bigger payday through the transfer portal.
It may be true that Underwood genuinely didn't see Whittingham's comments about his uncertain future as Michigan's quarterback. But the spotlight is always on him, and he can't afford to give his coach — or anyone else — a reason to believe he isn't fully invested. Safe to say this week's matchup against Oklahoma will be crucial for both Underwood and the Wolverines.
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