ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football has lost two games thus far this season, but of its concerns, its freshman quarterback isn’t one of them.
Despite what might have been said on the broadcast of the USC game, Bryce Underwood hasn’t made a lot of typical ‘freshman mistakes’ as much as he hasn’t gotten much help from either his offensive line or his receivers — depending on the play. He does make mistakes, to be clear, but very few have been of the egregious variety.
There’s still a lot more growing that Underwood has to do to reach his potential, but the place where he’s most excited, growth-wise, has been in his capacity in leadership.
“Every week, I feel like I’m becoming a better leader,” Underwood said. “That’s one of my main goals going into each and every game. Just being more efficient in executing our play call.”
How does that manifest for Underwood? What does leadership mean to him?
“I would say, honestly, being more vocal for my team because now I’m the starting quarterback, of course,” Underwood said. “So, I feel like that’s what comes with being the starting quarterback is being a vocal leader.”
During the USC loss, Underwood said that he spent a lot of time picking up his teammates when the offense (and team) was struggling, and that’s how a lot of his leadership showed in the last game.
“Of course, just keeping our head up throughout the entire game,” Underwood said. “Trying to keep smiles on the guys’ face so we can keep our head on straight. Just know that we can execute every single play.”
Though the Wolverines have another loss, the offense is coming along. Underwood connected often with fellow true freshman Andrew Marsh, who had a career game on the road.
With that in mind, Underwood feels like the sky is still the limit for this offense. They just have to keep working and make sure they execute, as he said.
“I wouldn’t say there’s really nothing preventing us,” Underwood said. “I feel like we just have some mental errors at times, but it’s OK because we’ll pick it up the next play.”
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Bryce Underwood focused on leadership growth amid Michigan struggles
