Michigan coach does not rule out benching $12 million quarterback

When the Michigan Wolverines signed Bryce Underwood out of high school, flipping him from the LSU Tigers with a massive NIL deal reported to be worth as much as $12.5 million over the course of a four-year, the Wolverines obviously had high hopes for his career. Now, less than halfway through the third season of his career, it sounds like there’s a real chance he could be benched.

The Wolverines are in the midst of a disappointing start to the season and have now lost two consecutive games as the offense has struggled to move the ball or score points reliably. Now, it sounds like Michigan is considering changes on the offensive side of the ball, which could include a quarterback change.

Michigan’s Struggles

The Wolverines suffered a second consecutive loss as Minnesota scored 13 unanswered points in the second half, fueled by three Michigan turnovers, to claim a 20-14 victory.

Saturday’s loss to Minnesota brings Michigan’s record to 3-2 on the season, but the record probably looks a little better than Michigan has looked on the field.

One of Michigan’s wins came in controversial fashion against the Western Michigan Broncos as the FBS Oversight Committee essentially admitted that Western Michigan should have won the game but stated that the official result cannot be changed.

Michigan went on to beat Oklahoma the following week, but that win has lost a lot of its luster with Oklahoma having its own struggles. The only other win came against UTEP, which has lost eight consecutive games to FBS opponents.

‘We may have to make some tough decisions’

After the game, head coach Kyle Whittingham made it clear that things need to change on the offensive side of the ball as he called the results “unacceptable” and teased some “tough decisions.”

“I’ll sit down with the entire offense and get everybody’s input and everybody’s perspective,” Whittingham said after the game. “There’s nobody more frustrated than Coach Beck. His track record is fantastic as an offensive coordinator. We may have to make some tough decisions here, we’ll see.”

“To this point, through this portion of the season, it’s unacceptable,” Whittingham said. “The results are unacceptable right now.”

This comes after some pretty telling comments from Whittingham about Underwood earlier in the season. Following the team’s controversial victory over Western Michigan, Whittingham did not commit to Underwood remaining the team’s starting quarterback for the entire season.

“He’s our QB right now. It’s not something that’s infinite,” Whittingham said after the team’s season-opener. “At some point, you’ve got to turn the corner and we’ve got to see improvement, as we do with a bunch of stuff.”

The comment raised some eyebrows at the time, but Underwood went on to lead the team to victory over Oklahoma the following week, quieting talk about a potential benching. However, after back-to-back losses, the noise is getting loud again.

Underwood is the most high-profile quarterback ever to sign with Michigan out of high school. On3 has reported that his lucrative NIL package could be as high as $12.5 million.

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