Joel Klatt delivers strong assessment of Bryce Underwood debut: 'I thought he was excellent'

Last weekend was the debut of Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 incoming recruit in the country, at Michigan. Having watched the film since then, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt was quite impressed with the true freshman for the Wolverines.

Klatt reacted to Underwood’s first college game during his show on Wednesday. Considering what Underwood showed, Klatt thought it was a more limited game plan for the Michigan offense and the new quarterback played well from the pocket.

“If you were just evaluating Bryce Underwood and his debut as a true freshman, I thought he was excellent. I really did,” Klatt said. “And I went back and watched the tape just so that I could make sure that I knew and saw all of the plays for what they were, and I thought he was poised, I thought that this stage is not going to be too big for him. He was not afraid to make big throws. He led them in situational football, in particular right before the half, in a two-minute situation right down the field.

“You know, the ability to throw the football down the field and really threaten down the field…He didn’t really have to show us his ability to run, and that’s something that I think will be a real threat and a plus for him as the season goes on. So, when you just look at it from a passing game standpoint, I was very impressed.”

With that, Klatt broke down one specific play as an example of a lot of that with Underwood. He looked at one of the third downs, where he stood firm, read it right, and got a completion for a first down, which he thought was really well played for someone who was playing in high school just a few months ago.

“I looked at the first third down of the game. Now, granted, I think it was only 3rd & 4, maybe it was 3rd & 5. But, he stood in there and he never retreated. I think that’s a big tell. When I see young quarterbacks, I’ll look at these very specific situations in the game that I know that they’re under a lot of pressure and that there’s been a lot of focus on that situation in practice. How do they react? Is it too big for them? Are their eyes in the right spot?” Klatt said as he evaluated. “They came out in a pretty basic formation, and they’re just kind of running hitches, everybody was running hitches or just like stop routes about four or five yards down the field, and his eyes went to the correct spot, correct side of the field.

“He never retreated, he went through his reads, and, bang, he hits Semaj Morgan with an accurate ball and Morgan spins out and gets a first down. And I’m thinking to myself, like, okay. The guy was in high school last year. That’s pretty good. That’s well done, you know.”

Underwood finished the opener being 21-31 (67.7%) for 251 yards and a touchdown. Again, it was a pretty good performance by Underwood, getting a passing grade for his play, in a win over New Mexico. Still, even as compared to the output the maize & blue got from that position just last season, Klatt thinks there’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to Underwood.

“Let’s face it. Like, that was a lot better than Michigan had a year ago at the quarterback position,” Klatt said. “And I like those guys a lot, you know. Davis Warren is a great kid, a great kid and I wish him a lot of success. But, it didn’t look like that.

“Michigan has got to feel like, hey, we’ve also got an upgrade, because they have a huge upgrade at quarterback and that’s a massive deal for them. Last year, they could not throw the football and yet they still played great defense and won some massive games late in the season. This team, I think, quietly has some confidence now with this quarterback and his ability to throw the football down the field, that maybe they can make some waves in the Big Ten and around the country.”

Underwood may have made his official debut last weekend against the Lobos. His full-on introduction to college football, though, will be in primetime tomorrow night in a Top 20 matchup at Oklahoma. That puts it on his coaching staff and teammates to help him the best that they can, especially in just his second start ever against a Sooners’ defense called by Brent Venables.

“There are still things that we need to see, in particular when the competition ramps up – which it will this week,” Klatt said. “I think it’s going to be incumbent on Chip Lindsey and Sherrone Moore to put him in position to succeed, and maybe run a little up-tempo, maybe in an up-tempo style of game. You don’t have to make a ton of reads. … You’re not switching plays at the line of scrimmage. I think all of that would benefit him on the road in his first start against OU.”

Underwood obviously has a lot of potential, being a Five-Star prospect who just arrived in Ann Arbor. Some of that was on display early as their starting quarterback, with Klatt looking forward to seeing how he develops from here.

“I thought it was very positive for Bryce Underwood,” Klatt said. “Now, what’s the ceiling? I think the ceiling could be really high.”