Bryce Underwood faces a terrifying Brent Venables sequel vs. Oklahoma

Just like when the Oklahoma Sooners took on Michigan a year ago, Bryce Underwood is still the Wolverines’ quarterback. For now.

It feels like it’d be a sequel, but after the preview we saw Saturday night, it will more than likely be the same movie we already watched when Brent Venables’ defense put on a show last year in Norman in the Sooners' 24-13 win over Michigan. The two college football blue bloods meet again at 11 a.m. CT Saturday in Ann Arbor.

“Bryce, as I said last night on my coach’s show, one of the most talented players at any position in all of college football,” Venables said during Tuesday’s press conference. “All of his best days are still in front of him. Won nine games as a true freshman starting quarterback — a tremendous feat in itself.”

Venables sounds like he has more confidence in Underwood than his own coach. Underwood couldn’t do much at all against a defense from the MAC as the Wolverines needed his miracle Hail Mary during a phantom second to “beat” Western Michigan 13-12 Week 1.

He finished with 170 passing yards and that one lucky touchdown while posting a QBR of 36.7. Supposedly dangerous with his legs, he rushed for a team-high 47 yards on nine carries. He also had two crucial turnovers, with an interception just before halftime and a fumble late in the fourth quarter. Both resulted in three points for Western Michigan.

Underwood should have cost the Wolverines the game, let alone the $12 million NIL package as a former five-star quarterback.

“He's our QB right now. It's not something that's infinite,” new Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham said on Monday. "At some point, we've got to turn a corner, and we've got to see improvement, as we've got to do with a bunch of stuff. We've got to see improvement out of the coaches. It's not just on Bryce, and it's not just Bryce's job that is not absolutely set in concrete. Nobody's is."

Brent Venables will magnify the Wolverines' Bryce Underwood problem

If Underwood is a problem, then consider Venables an instigator.

The Western Michigan defense should not be considered a poor unit. The Broncos won the MAC just last season because of their defense and returned seven starters. But it’s still not Oklahoma’s defense, one of the best in the entire country and led by arguably the greatest defensive mind in college football.

It was Venables’ plan last year that had Michigan fans already questioning Underwood’s true potential after just his second career start and first on the road. He completed only nine of his 24 passes for 142 yards and rushed for minus-one yard. The Wolverines barely even sniffed the end zone, other than a 75-yard run by Justice Haynes, who has since transferred to Georgia Tech.

Venables tormented a young Underwood, and although that was 11 games and an offseason ago, a quarterback’s second try against Venables almost always goes even worse, no matter how much they’ve improved, which Underwood doesn't seem like he has much. According to SoonerScoop’s George Stoia, Venables is 38-8 when facing a quarterback in back-to-back seasons as a defensive play-caller.

“As somebody that follows college football, you've certainly been watching Bryce and his development," Venables said. "He is in a completely different system this year than what he was a year ago. But I don't ever look at it as a life of its own, I'll be very honest, and what we've got to do to defend him in this new system with this new group of players this weekend. …

“So always look at what a guy's capable of, what's his ceiling, what have they shown you when they're at their best. And he's fantastic. So we've got a lot of work to do to get ready for him here this week. But he's got a great group of players that surrounds him, and helps him be successful as well."

Venables is preparing for the best of Underwood in Round 2, but will instead bring out the worst.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow