Sherrone Moore on using Bryce Underwood's legs: 'If you run your QB, you better have two'

Bryce Underwood has stuck to the passing game through two games as Michigan‘s quarterback. Fans are excited to see what the true freshman is capable of running the ball, but head coach Sherrone Moore has his reservations.

So far on the season, Underwood has totaled five carries for negative sack-adjusted rushing yards. He’s stuck to passing for the most part, completing 30 of his 55 passing attempts for 393 yards and one touchdown. Moore is remaining cautious but intends to let Underwood use his legs more often as the season progresses.

“(If) you run your quarterback, you better have two,” Moore said. “And I’ve always believed that, even did that with JJ (McCarthy). JJ wanted to run every game. And I was like, no, you’re gonna get hit, you’re gonna get hurt.

“We will (run Underwood), and I think there’s parts of where we tried to in that game, they just were pretty good at not letting us, because they didn’t want him to run. And I think there’s ways we can get him to run in different ways and make sure he’s protected. So we’ll work that as we go game by game and have a strategy for that.”

Michigan fans were thrilled to see Underwood’s first performance end in victory, 34-17 over New Mexico in Ann Arbor. He threw for 251 yards and a touchdown during the contest while completing 67% of his attempts.

Underwood followed that up with his first road college road game at Oklahoma, which is his head coach’s alma mater. The young quarterback finished the game 9-24 passing for 142 yards during the 24-13 loss. Still, Moore chose to focus on the positives of his QB1’s performance despite the losing effort.

“The kid kept his poise for a freshman to be in that environment,” Moore continued. “I mean, there was never the wide-eyed look where it’s too big at the moment. So I understand that he can do it.”

Next up for Michigan is its second home game of the season, this time against Central Michigan on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for Noon ET and will air live on the Big Ten Network.

The Wolverines are currently 27.5-point favorites to defeat the Chippewas in Ann Arbor, according to BetMGM. The over/under is set at 42.5 points. Following Week 3’s in-state clash, Michigan will kick off Big Ten Conference action against Nebraska during Week 4.