Bryce Underwood’s Benching Is About the Money, Analyst Says
· Yahoo Sports
The Michigan Wolverines are expected to start Tommy Carr over Bryce Underwood at quarterback on Saturday against sixth-ranked Indiana, according to CBS Sports reporter Matt Zenitz. The team has not announced the change. Carr replaced Underwood in the third quarter of Michigan’s 21-18 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Oct. 17, after Underwood threw two second-quarter interceptions and the Wolverines went to the locker room trailing 3-0.
Cooper Petagna of CBS Sports put the benching squarely on the money. Talking it through with Emily Proud in a CBS Sports HQ video, Petagna said, “Bryce Underwood, there’s a $12 million paycheck that says you have to figure it out right now. Right, wrong, or indifferent that is the world that we live in and he’s one of the poster children for the NIL era. There’s no time to breathe, right?”
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Bryce Underwood Has No Runway Because of the Money
That framing is what separates this from a routine quarterback change. The deal that made Underwood the face of the NIL era is the same reason nobody is willing to let him work through a bad month in public. The privilege and the pressure arrived together, and right now he is carrying the pressure by himself. A benching at Michigan is a news cycle. A benching with that number attached to it is a referendum on how the sport pays teenagers.
What Comes Next for Underwood at Michigan
With Underwood benched for a true freshman, there is a real chance he never plays another snap for the Wolverines. He may learn from this, but Michigan looks ready to ride Carr for the immediate future, and the likeliest path back onto the field is an injury ahead of him.
The sophomore has completed 58.1% of his passes for 924 yards, five touchdowns, and six interceptions. He has also rushed for 223 yards on 60 carries and two touchdowns, an average of 3.7 yards per carry. If Underwood plays college football again, it probably will not be in Ann Arbor.
Tommy Carr Time
With it being Carr time, this program is better off riding the freshman from Saline. He has completed seven of nine passes (77.8%) for 70 yards and one touchdown, and he has rushed for 54 yards on six carries and one touchdown, an average of 9.0 yards per carry.
Michigan needs to let Carr figure it out from now until the end of the season. It would not be a surprise to see Underwood already preparing for his next college football adventure, no matter how much NIL money he was paid to come here. Kickoff against Indiana is set for noon ET on Fox.