What they’re saying in college football Week 6: Urban Meyer calls Michigan a ‘train wreck’

It has not been a fun bye week for the Michigan Wolverines and their fans after the loss in Minneapolis to the Minnesota Golden Gophers last Saturday. The maize and blue faithful have to sit on 14 days of the last performance being a loss while the national media picks and prods at everything surrounding the program following an 0-2 start to Big Ten play. As we wait another week for the Wolverines to return to action, here’s a synopsis of what fans, media, and coaches are saying about Michigan in Week 6:

Coach’s Take: Urban Meyer questions Michigan’s toughness

The former Ohio State head coach has been in almost every single one of these weekly updates because of his relationship with Kyle Whittingham. The two coached together at Utah and have maintained a close relationship – which is part of the reason I think that Whittingham has dampened the fire of the rivalry between the Wolverines and Buckeyes.

At the same time, Meyer can say anything he wants about the Wolverines – good or bad – and it will make headlines because of the nature of The Game. “I could normally give a damn about (Michigan), but I do now,” said Meyer. “I’ve got five or six former players and coaches on that staff.” This creates a lopsided and strange complex, especially when Meyer says things like he did this week on his podcast:

“It’s an enigma right now. What in the heck is going on?” Meyer asked. “They had three turnovers. Bang. Bang. Bang. Right in front of me. You can blame it on Bryce Underwood all you want, I don’t see any explosiveness on offense. I see a quarterback getting hammered. First of all, they’re 2-3. Their record is not 3-2. I have not said this yet, it’s a trainwreck right now. I stood right there and watched it.”

“But that sideline, I just didn’t feel the dudes,” said the former Ohio State head coach. “Where are the grown-ass men? And I didn’t feel it, I didn’t see it. When there had to be a big stop, I didn’t see the energy… it’s still about passion, energy, and toughness, and I didn’t see it (on the Michigan sideline).”

He continued in a later clip. “I don’t see first rounders bouncing around like you used to see in the Wolverines now. Even second rounders. Maybe I am missing something, but we have watched them closely now, and the only first round athlete on the field is Bryce Underwood.” Meyer clarified later he was discussing Underwood as an athlete, not a quarterback.

National Media: CBS Sports Sr College Football Report questions if Underwood loves football

Going from Underwood being the premier athlete at the program, to maybe their largest problem? CBS Sports Senior College Football Reporter Brandon Marcello:

““There’s some question there among those about whether he’s actually fully committed to football,” said Marcello. “Does he love football? Is he obsessed with football?”

“When I hear people who would know that he just does not process things very well in live action, that should not be something he is dealing with in year two in the middle of the season,” Marcello continued. “To me, Bryce Underwood is the biggest problem that Michigan has right now.”

Heisman Highlight: RGIII says benching Underwood would be massive mistake

So many nuggets above from Robert Griffin III. He said that Michigan didn’t make the $12M investment in Underwood because he was a finished product. Then, he called out the coaching staff for trying to retrofit their five-star quarterback into their offensive scheme rather than building around him. He specifically called out them trying to turn Underwood into Utah’s current quarterback Devon Dampier despite them being foundationally different players. Finally, he ended with a doozy, saying that two years ago, the program reached out to him to be Underwood’s quarterback coach but he turned them down to stay in broadcasting. It’s a fascinating three and a half minute clip.

Local Radio: Jim Costa shows how bad the state of Michigan is at football