Ad Disclosure
Greg McElroy sets expectations for Bryce Underwood’s freshman season
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Bryce Underwood saw his first action inside the Big House over the weekend, suiting up during the annual spring game for Michigan. That performance ended with a bang, but the performance overall had some question marks attached to it.
On the final play of the game, Underwood delivered an 88-yard touchdown on a trick play that was the perfect capper to the game. However, ESPN’s Greg McElroy had Underwood’s statline at just 11-for-25 for 99 yards prior to the final couple of plays of the game.
Altogether, McElroy understands if the performance left some fans underwhelmed:
“If you look at the overall performance, you’re probably going to be coming out of it just the tiniest bit underwhelmed. Because if you look at every play but the last play or 2 of the game, it was kind of underwhelming,” admitted McElroy.
So, what does Underwood’s up-and-down outing mean moving forward? McElroy said it was far from surprising, and he didn’t view it as disappointing, either.
“Nothing about his performance was surprising; it wasn’t disappointing,” McElroy claimed. “It wasn’t to the point I’m giving him the Heisman Trophy, but I wasn’t disappointed.”
As far as the Wolverines in 2025, McElroy believes Underwood is already an upgrade from what the team had last year, so it should lead to some positive moments for Michigan.
“He’s already, even at 11-of-25 for 99 yards, he’s already significantly better than any option they had last year,” said McElroy about the struggles under center. “So I feel pretty good about Michigan’s QB situation going into the fall… I remain super bullish on Underwood.”
RELATED: Ready to check out the preseason odds for the Wolverines? Grab the Michigan sports betting apps and dive in.
Underwood was a 5-star recruit and the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect for the 2025 recruiting class, and there is no secret about the Bellevue product’s outlook for this fall. While Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene was injured for the spring game, Underwood has long been expected to land the QB1 job as a true freshman.
We’ll see how that translates for Sherrone Moore’s group when Week 1 rolls around.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.