The scene inside Michigan Stadium, in the cold and snow, played out like a horror film … for the home team, at least.
Michigan football fans left in droves throughout the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 29, as Ohio State fans celebrated in enemy territory. OSU’s mascot, Brutus, had drawn a large X through the ‘M’ in Michigan in the southern end zone. Chants of ‘O-H … I-O’ reverberated through the concourse. Some Buckeyes jumped up on the brick wall surrounding the field to celebrate with friends, family and supporters. Others circled the field, high-fiving every person clad in scarlet and gray. A day that began with the Wolverines not having lost to OSU in 2,191 days ended in less-than-pleasant digits: 27-9, as in the final score of Ohio State’s first thumping of Michigan in almost six years.
There were issues galore for the maize and blue, with multiple shortcomings demonstrated by the domination delivered by the visitors from the south.
But the most glaring? The passing game.
Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, a redshirt freshman, showed why he could be attending the Heisman Trophy ceremony in December. The first-year starter went 19-for-25 for 231 yards, three touchdowns and one interception (on his second offensive play).
Michigan’s freshman didn’t fare nearly as well. Bryce Underwood — the local five-star talent with an eight-figure NIL deal — completed just 8-of-18 passes for 63 yards and an interception.
Blame Underwood?
‘There’s no blame, there’s no pointing fingers,’ Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said afterward. ‘It’s a whole team effort. We’ve got to work to get better.’
Indeed, Underwood has been held to a high standard — almost impossibly so — for much of the season. And that’s despite history arguing against success, with virtually no true freshman starring in his first campaign.
And yet, Underwood was pursued at Belleville, and wooed out of his commitment to LSU, for moments exactly like this. Last year, in U-M’s three-touchdown upset of OSU, Davis Warren completed 9-of-16 passes for 62 yards and two interceptions. The fix appeared simple — get a competent quarterback, and the wins would become lopsided.
Instead, Underwood attempted two more passes, had one more yard and one fewer interception. That wasn’t the result anybody had in mind.
It started with a lopsided playsheet that featured 18 runs and just five passes in the first half.
‘That wasn’t the plan,’ Moore said. ‘You wanted to be balanced in what we did. … We didn’t do a good enough job.’
Of course, when Underwood did throw, it didn’t go according to plan, either. Favorite target (fellow true freshman) Andrew Marsh didn’t have a reception. Heck, he didn’t even have a single target.
All afternoon, Underwood was simply unraveled by Ohio State’s defense, which entered No. 1 in the nation overall and against the pass.
At one point, on 3rd-and-long, he had Marsh running open up the seam … and checked down. On another 3rd-and-long, he had Donaven McCulley open on a corner route … but threw it too high and outside — by the time McCulley made a leaping one-handed grab, he landed well out of bounds. Late, on 4th-and-6, he forced a bullet pass toward McCulley … who wasn’t ready; it instead went into the arms of OSU DB Davison Igbinosun.
Underwood ends his regular season with 10 ‘big-time throws’ and 11 ‘turnover-worthy plays,’ per Pro Football Focus’ system. Those are totals not far from Warren last year — six and nine, respectively.
Underwood’s stats through 12 games: 171-for-275 (62.2%) for 2,166 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. He didn’t pass for a touchdown in four of his final five games, and had just one more passing TD (six) than he did giveaways (five) over his final six games.
Again, there’s blame to go around. Missing his top two running backs — Justice Haynes (for most of the second half of the season) and Jordan Marshall (for most of Saturday) — and pressure seeping through his offensive line on what felt like nearly half his dropbacks made a tough job nearly impossible.
But the raw talent of Underwood was supposed to make up for those potential shortcomings.
Half of U-M’s starting offense, by season’s end, were freshmen, either of the true or redshirt variety.
There’s a clear foundation to build upon.
But that will only happen with an offseason of soul-searching and dedication.
Michigan made its goals clear this year: College Football Playoff or bust.
In that regard, well, the Wolverines busted.
‘There is no failure in my eyes, because of how far I came and where I am at this moment,’ Underwood told the Free Press back in June. ‘But success would be winning the national championship my freshman year. So that’s my goal.’
Underwood was just a freshman; this season wasn’t a failure.
But, by his own words, it came up well short of success.