Kyle Whittingham Admits Early Bryce Underwood Mistake

It was a new look for Michigan's offense on Saturday in the Wolverines' 17-10 win over Oklahoma. The passing attack has yet to get established, nor have Jordan Marshall or Savion Hiter been able to get going on the ground.

But for the first time, Bryce Underwood was unleashed on the ground. Sherrone Moore refused to allow Underwood to run the ball, saying he needed a capable backup in case Underwood got hurt. However, offensive coordinator Jason Beck has said multiple times during the offseason that he was going to use Underwood's legs as a weapon.

But that wasn't the case in Week 1against Western Michigan, when he ran the ball just nine times. But that was the lesson the Wolverines needed, and Kyle Whittingham said on Monday that the coaching staff didn't have a good game plan for No. 19 in Week 1.

"Oh, a lot. A lot was predicated on that," Whittingham said. "That's the essence of coaching is to put your guys in position to succeed.

"We, as coaches, didn't have a good plan for Bryce the first week. We readily admit that. And I think we did a much better job of tailoring things to his skill set. And hopefully we can continue to do that in the future."

The QB run is here to stay

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) runs against Oklahoma — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Entering the 2026 season, we knew what Beck had done with his QBs. In 2025, at Utah, Devon Dampier ran the ball 146 times. While Underwood may not reach that number, Whittingham noted that the QB run is going to be part of what the Wolverines do from here on out.

It's going to be opponent dependent, however. A game like UTEP might not call for 18-20 QB runs, but when Michigan goes up against more difficult opponents, the Wolverines can turn Underwood loose.

"The QB run game is always going to be a part of what we're doing," Whittingham said. "We can't go too crazy with it because there's a finite amount of times you can carry the ball and you put yourself in harm's way too much, then something will happen that's not good. But he definitely had a huge impact on this past game, and he's a very good runner.

"We plan to continue to utilize that in some capacity pretty much every week."

This mistake can't happen twice

While Underwood's stats didn't produce gaudy numbers in Week 2, he turned a corner. Even his passing looked better. Underwood went through progressions when he was held in the pocket, and when he was able to get outside of the pocket, his legs allowed plays to extend.

Michigan's offense has yet to look fully efficient, or explosive, but Week 2 was a step in the right direction. And now that Whittingham and Beck have taken the restraints off Underwood's legs, a Week 1 scenario cannot happen again.

It's no secret that Michigan wants to get Jordan Marshall going, but it's clear that Underwood is going to be a big weapon. Holding him back from here on out could cost the Wolverines a game. And until the passing offense changes, or the running backs find their groove — Michigan cannot afford this same mistake twice.

Sign up for the Michigan Wolverines on SI newsletter for more free coverage

Add us as a preferred source on Google