Bryce Underwood's time at Michigan should be over as QB goes down as an all-time NIL bust

The Michigan Wolverines went out and spent a reported $12 million on Bryce Underwood to be their quarterback for the next few seasons.

Underwood struggled as a true freshman, but he was given a pass in large part because head coach Sherrone Moore is not a great coach. And after Moore was arrested, he obviously had other things going on besides coaching Underwood.

Entering his sophomore season, Underwood faced plenty of pressure, but the Wolverines brought in Kyle Whittingham as their coach, who should’ve helped him.

However, Underwood has continued to struggle. Although he’s a freak athlete with a cannon of an arm and can extend plays with his legs, he simply can’t put it all together. He doesn’t know how to read defenses or where to go with the football, which has made Michigan’s offense terrible.

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After being down 3-0 at halftime, Whittingham finally pulled the plug on Underwood and benched him for true freshman Tommy Carr. With Carr under center, Michigan’s offense was totally different.

Carr at quarterback somehow helped the run game open up, as the Wolverines scored 21 points in the second half to beat the Penn State Nittany Lions 21-18.

Although Carr finished the game going 5-of-7 for 47 yards, he did rush for 36 yards and a touchdown. He was an upgrade over Underwood, who went 5-of-11 for 43 yards and 2 interceptions. It was another horrible game that should not only end his career at Michigan, but could very well be it for him.

Underwood was the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the Class of 2025; he doesn’t look like a starting quarterback for any Power 4 team. He had plenty of hype, and many thought he’d have success in college and go on to the NFL as an early draft pick.

Yet, in just one-and-a-half years, Underwood has ended all that talk as he simply isn’t a good quarterback. He could go to a Group of Five school next season to try to rebuild his stock before returning to the Power 4 level.

But his time at Michigan is over after being benched, and he goes down as one of the biggest busts in the NIL era.

Michigan won’t reveal starting quarterback against Indiana

Although Carr helped Michigan beat Penn State, Whittingham wouldn’t reveal who would start at quarterback against the Indiana Hoosiers.

After the win, Whittingham said the offensive staff decided to turn to Carr, which he felt was the right decision.

“I supported it,” Whittingham said of the offensive staff’s choice to move to Carr. “I’m not gonna say I was against it but they said, ‘Hey, thinking about making changes.’ Whatever we gotta do. I think that the timing was probably about as good as it could have been.

“People say, ‘Well you should have gone to Tommy sooner.’ No, I don’t think so. I think that how this has unfolded has given Bryce an opportunity to prove himself and, again, I’m not sitting here making a decision going forward who it’s gonna be because it was not just Bryce Underwood in the first half that wasn’t playing at the top of their game.”

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After being benched, Whittingham was impressed with Underwood and how he took it. He was seen on the sidelines celebrating Carr and the team’s offensive success.

Yet, Whittingham is keeping the team’s quarterback decision close to his chest, according to reporter Brice Mariach.

“HC Kyle Whittingham says they have decided on a starting quarterback, but like he’s been saying all press conference, they aren’t going to reveal who it is and tip their hands,” Mariach wrote on X.

However, it seems Carr should have the runway to be the Wolverines’ starting quarterback going forward.

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This story was originally published by Lindy's Sports on Oct 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Lindy's Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.