Film room: How Wisconsin must defend freshman phenom Bryce Underwood
Breaking down how the Wisconsin Badgers' defense stacks up against one of the most exciting true freshmen in the country.
When the Wisconsin football team’s defense takes the field at high noon on Saturday in Ann Arbor, it’ll line up against one of the most talented true freshman in the sport: Wolverines’ quarterback Bryce Underwood.
The consensus top high school recruit in the nation and Belleville, Michigan native flipped from LSU to his home-state Wolverines last fall just a month out from national signing day in a move that significantly altered the trajectory of Michigan’s program post-2023 national title.
With the Badgers’ surprisingly stout run defense and the Wolverines’ complete and utter commitment to the ground game, the play in the trenches has understandably gotten lots of the attention ahead of this Week 6 matchup.
Still, containing Underwood remains a top priority for Wisconsin. If you simply look at his stats through four games — 733 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception, 56.9 percent completion and 169 yards and three scores on the ground — you may not think much of the 18-year old gunslinger.
But pop on the tape, and you’ll see flashes of why Underwood was the most coveted recruit in America, even if he still plays like a true freshman at times.
Below, BadgerNotes.com breaks down the film from the Oklahoma game — Michigan’s lone defeat thus far and Underwood’s worst game — to assess how Wisconsin might contain the gunslinger who oozes talent and potential.
Underwood has one of the best arms of any true freshman I’ve ever seen. He’s such a natural thrower of the football, and when he unleashes a deep ball on target, it’s a thing of beauty:
I mean, that’s a stunning throw. By no means is the wide receiver, Donaven McCulley, open. But Underwood puts the ball in the exact cubic foot it needs to be for him to make the catch while still smothered in coverage.
Now, before you go thinking Underwood is going to toss for 450 yards on Wisconsin’s shoddy pass defense, understand the above play is still an outlier for the true freshman. That throw represents what he’s capable of, but by no means is this a consistent part of his game (yet). Because for every astonishing throw like that, there’s a handful of throws like these:
Here, he dials up another deep ball for McCulley, this time on a slot fade. The receiver gets knocked off his route slightly, disrupting the timing, but even so Underwood’s pass is several yards out in front and nearly picked off by a Sooners cornerback.
Even though it’s certainly still a work-in-progress, Underwood’s arm remains his most elite trait. Still, he plays for Michigan, a team stubbornly committed to running the ball down opponents’ throats.
All these deep shots don’t paint an accurate representation of the Wolverines’ offense. The screenshot below is more like it:
Is that seven offensive linemen plus an in-line tight end on the field for this running play? Why yes, it is. And by the way, this was Michigan’s first offensive play of the game in Norman. That’s one way to send a message about your team’s identity.
The Wolverines’ run-heavy scheme opens the door for Underwood to get involved on the ground as well. In his last two games combined, he’s piled up 175 yards and three touchdowns with his legs.
However, he was completely bottled up on the ground against Oklahoma, totaling -1 yards rushing. And while Michigan wasn’t yet making as concerted of an effort to get him going on the ground as it has in recent weeks, Wisconsin could take notes from how the Sooners defended the threat of his legs: