Biff Poggi reveals where he sees Bryce Underwood at after Michigan bowl loss

Michigan fell to Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl 41-27 and immediately all attention turned to quarterback Bryce Underwood. The superstar recruit had just wrapped up his freshman season and there was uncertainty on the horizon for the Wolverines.

Before Underwood would have a chance to think about his future, before Kyle Whittingham took the head coaching job, the first-year starter had some analyzing to do. He threw three interceptions in the game against Texas, not his best showing.

“I’ve talked to him,” interim coach Biff Poggi said after the game. “He’s a wonderful kid with a huge upside. And he’s a true freshman starting in an elite conference and playing in a bowl game against an SEC football team that was preseason ranked No. 1.”

In other words: Relax. Bryce Underwood will be just fine.

Sure, the Cheez-It Bowl wasn’t how he wanted to finish the season. Underwood accounted for three total touchdowns, one rushing and two passing. He threw for 199 yards and ran for 69 more.

But there were those three interceptions. Michigan fell to 9-4 on the season.

“I thought he had a great game, he just made a few bad decisions at the end. But he’ll learn,” Poggi said. “All these things are learning things for him. So much of playing quarterback is experiential. You have to experience it.

“He’s a competitor. He probably would like a couple of those throws back and probably doesn’t, probably a little down right now. But I think the best thing that would be for him is to get back to work as quickly as possible and for people to remember he’s just a freshman.”

Luckily for Bryce Underwood, Michigan is in place to do just that. Kyle Whittingham won’t tolerate anything less than getting back to work right away.

Kyle Whittingham talks Bryce Underwood

Whittingham came in and immediately noticed some things about Bryce Underwood. He noted that a little bit of footwork, a little bit of the spine angle and how he goes through progressions will need to be tweaked.

To that end, Whittingham hired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck. Beck reportedly runs, per Whittingham, a very ‘user-friendly’ system.

“A lot of talent. The ceiling is so high,” Whittingham said on the Rich Eisen Show. “Jason Beck, our offensive coordinator, is an absolute master at developing the quarterback. He played quarterback. The quarterbacks that he has trained and worked with have all had success.

“Devon Dampier last year was a tremendous player for us. He ended up eighth or ninth in the country in QBR. So, he’s in good hands here at Michigan — I can promise you that — and Jason will make sure we smooth out some of the mechanics and some of the things that he does need to work on.”

Bottom line: Bryce Underwood is ready to roll going into his second year. That could be a scary prospect for Michigan’s opponents.