How Brent Venables prepares for a QB with almost no tape to watch

Preparing for Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood is like taking a test without a study guide. 

Underwood, a freshman, will make just his second career start when the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners host No. 15 Michigan at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday in Norman. 

Michigan's Bryce Underwood will make second career start vs. Oklahoma Sooners

OU head coach Brent Venables, who also runs the Sooners’ defense, now has the task of preparing for the dynamic playmaker with just one game against New Mexico last week to go off of. 

Venables was asked Tuesday during his weekly press conference where a coach even starts when there is no starting point. 

“I really look at the team, the DNA of the offense,” Venables said. “We want to get after every quarterback that we play. But everything, there's a methodology to all of it. And so you gotta start in the run game, starts up front. You gotta win the battle in the trenches. Everybody's gotta win their matchups for anything to work.”

Stopping Michigan’s run game should definitely be a high priority for the Sooners. Albeit against New Mexico, the Wolverines averaged 6.3 yards a rush Week 1 while Justice Haynes ran wild for 159 yards and three touchdowns. That factor gives another crutch for Michigan’s freshman QB, but the Sooners also can’t go all in to stop the Wolverines’ ground attack because Underwood can also be dangerous, even at this point in his career. 

Venables didn’t hold back his praise of Underwood. Even in the midst of answering this same question about how to prepare for Underwood with no film, Venables compared Underwood to Trevor Lawrence. 

Underwood was a consensus five-star recruit and No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 class. It was then no surprise when Michigan announced Underwood as QB1 at the end of fall camp. 

In his debut, Underwood completed 21 of 31 pass attempts for 251 yards and a TD with no interceptions. He also won the respect of his coaches and the college football world when he laid a block to help pave the way for a touchdown. 

Like Venables made clear, Underwood is different. And preparing for him is even more unique with just one vanilla game plan against New Mexico to watch. 

However, Venables said no matter who the opposing quarterback is, the Sooners try to get after him. And that will be the key against Underwood. No matter how heralded Underwood is, he’s still a freshman making his first road start and is prone to make mistakes when under pressure. 

Venables’ shotgun plan of getting to the quarterback and stopping the run could actually be the exact plan to stop Underwood, even if there was film to study. 

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