Assessment of Bryce Underwood through his first four games

Through his first four games at Michigan, Bryce Underwood has a fairly underwhelming stat line when compared to most QBs nationally in college football. His 57% completion percentage is tied for 110th nationally, he only has two passing TDs to one Interception, and his Yards Per Attempt is 77th nationally. All of these stats point to what would appear to be a fairly mediocre start for Bryce Underwood in the Michigan uniform, but what they don't fully capture is his youth relative to the competition he's facing nor the lack of a great supporting cast of pass-catchers to help him out.

To put Bryce Underwood's stats in context, there's only been 29 true freshman QBs to start games for major Power Four conference teams in the last 10 years, so he's already in rarified air considering his age. By far the most successful true freshman season for a QB in college football history was Trevor Lawrence, who threw for over 3,000 yards, had 30 passing TD's to just 4 INT's and averaged 8.3 Yards Per Attempt while leading Clemson to a National Title victory by season's end.

For Michigan fans, the encouraging sign that Bryce Underwood could actually be on a similar trajectory as Lawrence can be found through their first four games of competition. Trevor Lawrence didn't start game one for Clemson, as returning starter Kelly Bryant was still a factor. Through his first four games Lawrence went 39/60 for a 65% completion percentage, 600 passing yards, and 9 TDs to 2 INTs while rushing for a total of 25 yards with no rushing TDs. Bryce Underwood's stats through four games are 58/102 for a 57% completion percentage, 733 passing yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT while adding another 169 rushing yards and 3 TTDs's on the ground.

Overall, Lawrence had a better passing TD total but if you factor in the rushing yards and TDs, it looks like this: Trevor Lawrence total yards through 4 games: 625 total yards, 9 total TDs, 2 INTs. Bryce Underwood's stat line through his first four games: 902 total yards, 5 total TDs, and 1 INT. All things considered, that's a fairly even draw with a slight edge to Lawrence given the 9 total TDs through his first four games, but the overall yards are actually in Bryce's favor. Now, like I mentioned earlier, Trevor Lawrence didn't start right off the bat for Clemson but the passing yards are still close enough to showcase that Bryce is on a similar trajectory as what Trevor Lawrence did as a true freshman.

To continue the comparison to Trevor Lawrence's true freshman season, you also have to take into account that Trevor Lawrence had three future NFL Draft Picks at WR to throw to in Hunter Renfrow, Tee Higgins, and Justyn Ross while sharing a backfield with Travis Etienne. While Underwood does have one of CFB's best rushers in Justice Haynes in his backfield next to him, Michigan's WRs and TEs already have 11 drops through four games, which is among the worst in the country thus far. If you adjust for the drops, Bryce Underwood's stat line would look much better across the board and you expect the drop numbers to regress to the mean more as the season goes along.

All in all, Bryce Underwood has eased into his college experience through these first four games and has done a really good job of avoiding those typical freshman mistakes. When compared to the all-time best true freshman season in Trevor Lawrence, his stats actually don't look that much different and if you consider the lack of a good supporting cast of pass catchers around him, you can say he's on a similar trajectory as Lawrence was as a true freshman. For Michigan fans, let's all hope the end of his true freshman season finishes the same way that Lawrence's did in leading his team to the National Title.

More From Michigan On SI: