ANN ARBOR — New Mexico got within seven points with just under two minutes left in the first half and head coach Jason Eck would have loved if that was the halftime differential. Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood had other plans.
Underwood engineered a brilliant two-minute drill, connecting on a 39-yard pass on a third and 14 along the way. Michigan scored to grab a 24-10 lead at the break and went on to win 34-17 on Saturday night in the season opener at Michigan Stadium.
Eck was very impressed with the 18-year-old true freshman making his college debut. In addition to completing 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown, Underwood didn’t commit any turnovers.
“That was our hope that you could maybe get a young quarterback frazzled,” Eck said. “But he’s very accurate. I was watching him in warmups. Throwing routes on air, every ball was right on the money. I thought getting people on him or changing coverages we could throw him off a little bit, but he was very impressive.”
Earlier in the week, Eck had commented on Underwood’s massive NIL package, saying, “They’re paying him all that money for a reason. He was the No. 1 player in the country for a reason. We better be ready to go against him.”
He thought his team was prepared, but headset communication problems didn’t help the defense, and that two-minute drill was the biggest drive of the game in his opinion. Eck and his players highlighted Underwood’s poise and accuracy.
“He’s got a lot of good players around him so he did a good job of not trying to do too much,” said Jaxton Eck, a starting linebacker and the coach’s son. “He let the game come to him. Third and 14 we busted in coverage and gave up the dig to end half. He capitalized when we made mistakes so credit to him.”
This was the college football world’s first look at the top recruit in the class, a potential generational talent who became just the fourth freshman to start at quarterback in Michigan’s storied history. Eck got to see him up close. Any advantages he hoped could be gained from facing a youngster making his debut were quickly neutralized by Underwood’s performance.
Eck said he approached Underwood after the game to congratulate him. “He’s a great player. Maybe I’ll be telling my grandkids one day that I got to coach against Bryce Underwood.”
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