Michigan OC Chip Lindsey emphasizes fundamentals, praises Bryce Underwood’s growth ahead of Northwestern

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines are off the bye and preparing for the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The hope is that a young offense can finally start to put the pieces together down the stretch as the team rounds into form.

Michigan offensive coordinator/quarterback Chip Lindsey spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon and spoke about what the emphasis was on offense during the week off between games.

“We really focused on trying to detail everything we’re doing, from ball security to the basic stuff we did the first bye week as well,” Lindsey revealed. “You get a chance to go back and really emphasize that. Obviously, that showed up in the last game and kept us from scoring a couple of touchdowns. So, really emphasizing the fundamentals. I think you go back to that during a bye week when you have time to do it. You have more individual time than usual, which is awesome.

“Each position group goes through that and tries to improve its fundamentals. [Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore] has made a big emphasis on that with the team. Even for us, on the practice schedule, we made sure we were working on fundamentals and improving during this last stretch run.”

The Wolverines have left a lot of meat on the bone and points on the board this season, but Lindsey is not letting them chalk it up to youth. Well into the campaign, improvements are expected, especially up front.

“Some, but at the end of the day, we’ve played nine games now,” Lindsey said. “Those young guys have played some. I’m really proud of that group. When you look at those offensive linemen, we’re playing with three young guys up there, and I’m really proud of them. Grant’s doing a great job coaching them. They’re playing a little earlier than expected.

“The offense revolves around the strengths of your players. I really like the progress we’re making; we just have to clean up the self-inflicted stuff. Last week, we had turnovers, so there’s fundamental stuff to fix there are some things to clean up fundamentally with that and with the running backs. We’ve had some different combinations playing, but that’s no excuse.”

Michigan OC weighs in on Bryce Underwood’s development

Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood is the key to all of it, and he heads into the final three games with just 7 passing touchdowns on the year. Lindsey was asked to address the lack of production through the air, and mostly brushed it off.

“We just want to win and do the best we can with what we have,” Lindsey said. “I remember when I had Drake [Maye] in 2023, it seemed like we got tackled inside the five on every long pass and ended up running it in. We want to win, so I don’t know much about that other than we want to score touchdowns every time we get down there.”

“We always want to be more efficient, but we’ve had 250 [rushing] yards the last two Big Ten games. If we’re running it well, that’s fine. If we need to throw to win, we will. You have to be multiple. But winning is the most important thing. Whatever it takes to do that, we’ll do it.”

Underwood has done an admirable job of protecting the football for a true freshman, but a pair of red-zone turnovers hurt Michigan’s chance of pulling away from a bad Purdue team two weeks ago. That has been emphasized over the last two weeks.

“Continue to grow and take care of the ball,” Lindsey said. “In big games, turnovers lose you games. Last week, we had two. One pick where we had a guy open in the end zone, and another on a scramble where we didn’t finish the play. The focus is on protecting the ball, not putting it on the ground, and making opponents earn everything.

Underwood’s growth is still a net positive for Michigan. The more snaps he takes, particularly down the stretch, the better off they feel he will be in the long term.

His work habits have been most impressive to Lindsey.

“The more he plays, the more comfortable he gets,” Lindsey said. “It’s about reps. When you have a young player it goes back to protecting the ball. I think that’s the thing that bothered me the most. Because he’s really done a nice job of that. And then I think all the way around, we have to do a great job protecting him. We have to do a great job catching the ball when we get opportunities. It all kind of works together, but I like his growth.

“Last night, I left at 10:45 and he was still here watching third downs,” Lindsey said. “He’s a football fanatic, so to speak, and wants to improve. That’s really what’s earned him a lot of respect with our team here with the way he’s operating.”