Urban Meyer breaks down Michigan QB situation after Bryce Underwood’s struggles

SportsMichigan quarterback Bryce Underwood threw for 170 yards in the opener against Western Michigan. (Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com)Jacob Hamilton | MLive.comBy Matt Connolly | mconnolly@pennlive.comMichigan avoided disaster last Saturday night, winning on a controversial second-chance Hail Mary after it appeared as though the Wolverines had dropped their opener to Western Michigan.Despite the victory, there are clearly some problems with the Michigan offense, which is led by former five-star recruit Bryce Underwood.FOX Sports analyst Urban Meyer, a close friend of Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham, addressed Michigan’s quarterback situation on The Triple Option podcast this week.“His issue is spatial awareness -- going through progressions and then executing, which is a normal progression for a young quarterback,” Meyer said of Underwood. “The problem is he was thrust into a starting environment last year with chaos going all around him. “Someone said he didn’t have a quarterback coach. Once again, there’s some never heard ofs. I’ve never heard of that. Especially when you pay a guy $7 million.”If Michigan had lost to Western Michigan, Meyer believes Whittingham would have made a quarterback change and turned to freshman Tommy Carr.However, since the Wolverines survived, he is unsure what Whittingham will do. Meyer believes Underwood has all of the talent needed to be an elite quarterback but that talent isn’t translating to production.“God said I’m going to go make me a quarterback, and they look like Bryce Underwood. But there’s something missing,” Meyer said. “[With] Tommy Carr, coach Whit really loves this kid, says he’s got an incredible future. But he’s also underdeveloped as far as just physically.”Up next for Michigan is a matchup with Oklahoma, which is led by one of the best defensive minds in college football in Brent Venables.Meyer expects Carr to get more reps with the first team in practice this week, but he added that the rest of the offense needs to step up and help out whoever is at quarterback.“I’m going to spend most of my time, if I’m Kyle, with the offensive line. That did not look well to me,” Meyer said. “They looked just as an, offensively, not a good offense. I didn’t see the breakaway speed on the edges. I didn’t see the typical Wolverine running back that’s ripping through tackles. And, of course you see a quarterback that’s mistake-filled and not executing at a high level.”Underwood was 12 of 22 passing for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception against Western Michigan. He also rushed for 47 yards and a score.The sophomore will need to be better against Oklahoma for the Wolverines to win, if he indeed keeps his starting job. “If you lose the [Western Michigan] game you probably push that button down and implode the whole thing and start over. And that means a new quarterback, maybe new other position players,” Meyer said. “But you just don’t know what’s around him. “They have to compete with Oklahoma. Kyle Whittingham’s job is very clear… put people on the field that you think can win the game. Not to make a point, not to prove a point. If he thinks Bryce Underwood is the best option, you’ve gotta go with him.” Matt Connolly is a Sports Trending Reporter for PennLive, writing about the NFL, college sports and other topics. He has covered college football and college basketball since 2010 and was on the Clemson beat...