After back-to-back losses at Michigan, pressure is beginning to mount on the Michigan coaching staff to potentially move on from quarterback Bryce Underwood. However, former Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III seems to think Underwood’s issues may have more to do with how coaches utilize Underwood’s skills.
Underwood’s worst game of the season was the team’s loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Week 5. He threw for only 101 yards and committed multiple turnovers, leading to the team’s 20-14 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Given that Underwood came to Michigan as the consensus No. 1 recruit in the 2025 high school recruiting class and the Wolverines paid a premium to join the program, the results simply weren’t good enough.
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The vast majority of fans attribute Underwood’s issues to his shortcomings as a quarterback early in his career. However, Robert Griffin seems to think some of Underwood’s struggles come from Michigan deploying Underwood as a run-first quarterback.
“Bringing Bryce Underwood to the bench would be Michigan’s biggest mistake,” Griffin said in a video posted on his X account. “If Michigan wants to give up their season, I have the perfect plan. bench Bryce Underwood. Obviously the solution to having your quarterback fail is to bench your quarterback for failing. I’m not defending poor quarterback performance. Bryce Underwood has played so poorly this season. I ask why the quarterback has played so poorly?
“Michigan reportedly spent about $12 million in NIL money over four years to sign Bryce Underwood. Michigan decided to hire Kyle Whittingham, who is a great football coach.
Griffin went on to claim that Whittingham is trying to turn Underwood into their version of Utah quarterback Devin Dampier, one of the most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks in the country. While that obviously worked for Dampier, Griffin understands why it didn’t work for Underwood as a tool at quarterback.
“They have to stop trying to make Bryce Underwood be Devin Dampier,” Griffin added. “Listen to me, Devin Dampier ran for 1,166 yards rushing, 19 rushing touchdowns, and averaged 7.5 yards per carry at New Mexico State in 2024 with offensive coordinator Jason Baker. This is not a quarterback who can run. His legs are the foundation of the offense. Bryce Underwood is not Devin Dampier. This is not a quarterback who can run. His legs are the foundation of the offense. Bryce Underwood is not Devin Dampier.
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It’s worth noting that Jason Baker is now Underwood’s offensive coordinator at Michigan. So there might be some truth to Griffin’s assertion that Baker and Whittingham were trying to get Underwood to run an offensive scheme that didn’t align with his strengths as a player.
Whatever the solution is, Michigan State definitely needs to find answers at quarterback soon before things derail further in Ann Arbor.
Fortunately for the Wolverines, they do have a much-needed bye week in Week 6 to adjust and potentially get more consistent quarterback play in Week 7 against Penn State and beyond.