CMU coach Matt Drinkall on Bryce Underwood: ‘As smart as he is talented’

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood bounced back with a huge performance against CMU, dominating with both his arm and his feet in showing true dual threat capabilities. He threw for 235 yards and a score and ran for 114 and two more, scrambling, picking up yardage on scrambles and designed runs, and wowing everyone who watched.

That included Central Michigan coach Matt Drinkall. The CMU head man had a front row seat to watch Underwood dismantle his team.

“Confirmed — good operator,” Drinkall praised. “That’s the cool thing about watching him play in person. He’s not just a talented thrower. He’s a very, very good quarterback as far as how he operates the whole system. He has just little details that you notice even in person that you don’t really notice as well on tape, like all of his little ball handling mechanics and how well he flashes it and holds the fakes. And when he comes out of the pocket, he moves for a ton of width so he can get downhill fast. 

“He’s just very polished. You can tell he’s as smart as he is talented, and he’s incredibly talented. So, he did a great job.”

That Underwood improvised on several of his big plays made it even more impressive, Drinkall said.

“He pulled the one zone read, I think … where would that have been in the game? Three series before halftime, he pulled the one zone read and scored,” he said. “But some of the other ones were on extended plays or broken plays where he just made some plays with his feet and did a tremendous job, which is, out of everything to defend in football, probably the hardest.”

Overall, Drinkall noted, the Wolverines were every bit the outstanding opponent he expected, not just Underwood.

“All the credit in the world to Michigan. They’re an incredibly talented and well-coached team who executed very well and played an outstanding game,” he said. “We learned the hard way, if you are not consistent against a very consistent and talented team, they will make you pay for it right away, so we have to do that. 

“I really thought that Michigan were the aggressors the entire game in all three phases as far as fast off the ball, fast closing spaces and confidence. … They’ve got a great team and a great operation, and we’re working to get better.”