Michigan Spring Game Flashpoints: Passing Game Still a Work in Progress

ANN ARBOR, Mich.–Michigan’s spring game took place under cloudy, rain-filled day on April 18. The Mazie team took home the win with a nail-biting 7-6 win. The end of the game marks the completion of spring practice, and now the anticipation of the upcoming season builds.

Fans made their way down to Michigan Stadium to get their first glimpse of what Michigan football will look like with Kyle Whittingham, who came over from Utah in December. Whittingham takes over a program that is just three seasons removed from a national championship, but hasn’t made the College Football Playoff the last two seasons.

Michigan’s struggles over the past two seasons have largely come on the offensive side of the ball. To address that, Whittingham brought in Jason Beck from Utah. Beck’s first priority is to develop starting quarterback Bryce Underwood and fix the anemic passing game.

Underwood regressed as last season went on, but now, the question becomes, with a dedicated quarterbacks coach and offensive talent around him, will he finally start to show the ability to live up to the hype he came in with?

Defensively, Wink Martindale is gone, with Jay Hill coming in from BYU to take over the unit. A year ago, in the biggest moments, Michigan’s defense struggled to get off the field, continually giving up key third-and-long conversions and committing costly penalties.

In their losses a year ago, the Wolverines allowed opponents to convert 51 percent of the time on third-and-7 to third-and-9. On fourth down, it was even worse, with teams converting 63.16 percent of the time (17-of-28). Beck must find away to get the defense off the field, but with Whittingham believing the defensive line is 10 deep, Hill should find away to get pressure on opposing teams’ QB.

In this type of game, it’s hard to get definitive answers, but it was the offense that left you wanting more. Heading into fall and the season opener against Western Michigan, there will still be plenty of questions to answer. However, one clear takeaway is that Michigan’s passing game is not quite where it needs to be yet.

Questions Remain About Underwood

In the lead-up to the spring game, there were mixed reports about whether Underwood would play. But once the game kicked off, No. 19 was under center.

After struggling a year ago getting Underwood live reps was likely important and the right move, especially given the lack of coaching he received last season. Underwood only played the first quarter, two series for the Maize team and one plus a few snaps for the Blue. And he looked nowhere near what fans were hoping heading into the game. Truthfully, he left a lot to be desired, with several questions still remaining after the game.

The good news is that Underwood looked more comfortable in Beck’s offense, showing the freedom to trust his reads and use his legs. The bad news is he missed two deep throws to open receivers downfield. On the opening series, he missed Salesi Moa inside the 10-yard line on what should have been an easy touchdown. He then overthrew tight end Jalen Hoffman on a trick play, leaving a wide-open target with no chance to make the catch.