Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game on Saturday.
Underwood was 12 of 25 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.
He also recovered his own fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties and several errant throws.
As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of 30,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood, and he has become comfortable with that.
“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”
Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.
Underwood will compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.
He is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.
“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the “Rich Eisen Show.”
Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.
‘He’s just a freshman,” Underwood said. “He won’t be good enough. I might keep that chip my whole three years.”
He attended Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after previously telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.
[MORE: How Michigan flipped star QB Bryce Underwood from LSU]
Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.
Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.
“He wants to earn everything,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”
Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.
“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
College Football
Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
