What CMU coach Matt Drinkall said about Michigan: 'Incredibly gifted' QB Bryce Underwood not 'overhyped'

Somehow, some way, Michigan Wolverines football hung on to beat Army, 24-21, in an overtime game at The Big House Sept. 7, 2019. That loss still frustrates Matt Drinkall, who that day was on the same eastern sideline that he’ll lead the Central Michigan Chippewas from this weekend, six years later.

Drinkall was an offensive quality control coach at Army in 2019, before becoming tight ends coach (2020-22) and then offensive line coach (2023-24).

The 42-year-old is the replacement for former CMU head man Jim McElwain, and the Chippewas began their season with a 16-14 road win over San Jose State as 14-point underdogs. Drinkall’s crew fell this past weekend at Pittsburgh, 45-17, and is set to play its third-consecutive road tilt to open the year.

While the Michigan players and most coaches on the field back in 2019 are gone, that game is fresh in Drinkall’s mind, and he may show his Chippewas some film from it this week.

“The tough part of that game is that there are probably some situations that are worth showing, because the Army team, we had opportunities in that game to change the outcome, but some of the mistakes that we made were self-inflicted,” Drinkall said.

“We had a false start on a quarterback sneak — a third-and-1 that turned into a third-and-6. We turned the ball over right before half in the red zone, and had another penalty error way late in the overtime that cost us.

So, we had our chances, but when you play really good opponents like this Michigan team, anybody’s margin of error is so slim, because they have unbelievable coaching, they have great players, they have an unbelievable culture, where there’s an expectation to perform almost perfectly all of the time, a very supportive fan base. It’s all of that coming together that makes them such a good program that’s tough to beat.

During his Tuesday media availability, Drinkall took accountability for some penalties and other errors from last week’s loss to Pittsburgh, saying he didn’t prepare his team well enough for the road environment and those things will be points of emphasis this week.

“We’ll make it loud, noisy and work game operation and try to get it going,” Drinkall said before his team plays at Michigan Stadium, which has a 107,601 capacity.

He’s hoping his team will have a shot to win late and stun the Michigan Stadium crowd.

“The situations where it’s like, man, when you get these opportunities, if you are fortunate enough to find yourself in these opportunities, you either find a way or you find an excuse,” Drinkall said. “You either find the moment or the moment finds you, and you have to execute.”

Drinkall on Bryce Underwood

Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class and turned 18 years old less than one month ago (Aug. 19), but his poise has stood out through two games. Underwood hasn’t turned the ball over, and he’s connected on 54.5 percent of his throws for 393 yards and a score.

Drinkall has impressed with the quarterback his Central Michigan defense will face Saturday afternoon.

“I’ll be honest with you: I tried to lie to myself when I got hired and we got the schedule and I saw it and I was like, ‘Ah, maybe he’s overhyped and not quite as good as everybody [says].’ That is not the case,” Drinkall said. “He is incredibly gifted. The thing is, obviously, his physical skills jump off the tape. If you walk by him — I’ve never seen him in person, but I imagine — he looks like he looks the part. 

“But, man, he is not only a good decision-maker, he is a very decisive decision-maker. He operates the system like a veteran. If no one told you he’s a freshman, you would never in a million years ever think that. Ever. Not by anything.

“He’s coached incredibly well. They have a great package that allows him to … the cool part about him, watching him on film as a fan of football, he can do everything. He can do everything. And he’s got a great supporting cast of people that complement him really well. They run a system that does a great job of fitting how all their players play. But, boy, he’s an impressive player.”

Three-headed monster at quarterback

The Chippewas will bring one of the most unique quarterback setups in the country to Ann Arbor. They play three signal-callers — redshirt senior and starter Joe Labas, junior Angel Flores and redshirt freshman Jadyn Glasser.

“You will absolutely see all three quarterbacks on Saturday, 100 percent,” Drinkall revealed.

This past offseason, Labas entered the transfer portal but ultimately decided to return to Mount Pleasant under the new staff, and he’s embraced the platoon at the position. He’s led the way for Central Michigan’s offense by completing 16 of his 24 pass attempts (66.7 percent) for 145 yards and a touchdown, with no picks or sacks.

“Joe Labas was an Iowa transfer who was the starter when we got here,” Drinkall explained. “He was injured, and really, really battled through offseason surgery and worked his butt off in the weight room.

“The big story is you’ve got to imagine, you’re the starting quarterback, coming off of shoulder surgery and you’re probably going to be out for the spring, and they hire an O-line coach from Army. That is like a death sentence, and the portal’s open when the news comes. If you were that kid’s people, what would you tell him about how your passing career [is going to go]? And then he stayed.

“And, on top of that, we brought in transfers at quarterback. They’re good players who came in. In that situation, Joe just rehabbed his butt off and killed it in the weight room and got back, won the starting job, got elected to the leadership council, got elected captain. Has played his ass off, and he’s good at everything. He’s kind of like the old field general, he’s a jack of all trades, a master of none — just a really, really good player all around.

“And then Angel Flores and Jadyn Glasser will also play. There isn’t like a second string. It kind of rolls by how the game is going and what [offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach] Coach [Jim] Chapin has built into the plan. But the cool part is that they don’t come in and do one thing or like three things. Each of them runs the whole offense, but each of them has their own personal way they operate it, I guess, their own flavor to it. 

“Where it’s neat for us is that we’re only under center about 15 percent of the time or so, so the rest of it is gun snaps. We feel like we can rotate that position through. We’ve had bad snaps each of the first two games, but they were high. You could have [former NFL star] Peyton Manning back there; he wasn’t catching them. We can rotate those positions through just like we do the receivers and running backs and tight ends and every other position, which then I think makes us much more difficult to prepare for because we play a lot of people.”

“We’ll play 35, 36 people on offense every game, so we have a ton of personnel groupings. You take a regular personnel package and have to multiply it by three, because you could get any of the three quarterbacks. And we’re developing depth and identity through the process of it, so it’s been really good.”

Central Michigan is a 27.5-point underdog at The Big House, according to BetMGM. Kickoff is slated for noon ET on Big Ten Network.