Everything Bryce Underwood said ahead of Michigan vs. Oklahoma
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood met with reporters Wednesday as the Wolverines prepare for Saturday’s matchup with Oklahoma at Michigan Stadium.
Underwood discussed his performance against Western Michigan, Kyle Whittingham’s comments about his status as Michigan’s starting quarterback, areas he needs to improve, the game-winning Hail Mary to JJ Buchanan and his approach to facing Oklahoma for the second straight season.
Here is everything Underwood said Wednesday.
Coaching points
Just play good ball, play a good game.
Western Michigan film
Six major plays that changed the entire game. But I’m back to this week as quick as I can.
Smiling after the Jalen Hoffman play
Just a good pass. Hit the area. Better throw. I’m always smiling when I’m playing football, no matter win, lose or draw. So I play the game with good passion, so you always see a smile on my face.
Whittingham’s QB comments
There were comments about that? That’s cool. I can see that.
Reaction to comments
It’s cool.
Handling the spotlight
I haven’t been on social media since fall camp, so, I mean, there’s not much to talk about really.
Moving past Week 1
I’m motivated no matter what. So, I mean, win, lose or draw, I’m ready to go for the next week. And we’re 1-0, so that’s a blessing to have. So I’m ready to go for the next week.
Facing Oklahoma again
Just being able to do what I do best, play my game and move forward from there. So, yeah.
Confidence in himself
I believe in myself and I’m confident in myself no matter what it is. So I’m willing to go into any game, any game, with that mindset.
Final play mindset
Just my mindset was giving my guys another opportunity to make a play. And those guys worked very hard this fall camp to show me that they deserved the opportunity, any opportunity, so I’ll make the play for them.
Relationship with Buchanan
After Week 1, we talked about it. We left the game behind. So we are just ready to move forward, build a bond with everybody on my team. Let’s go forward.
Trusting his receivers
I was confident in that entire area. My guys, we trained that moment probably for the past five to six weeks. And that moment came true against Western Michigan, so I was just very excited, very trustworthy with my guys.
Biggest fall improvement
Being mentally strong, no matter what the situation is, moving forward and finishing off everything I do. So that’s it.
Footwork and fundamentals
I did better than last year. Just got a little, I’d say, back to last-year habits when it came to early play times, but we’re going to move forward from this week.
Players-only meeting
That meeting was big for us to see how we was going to move forward. It’s going to either make or break us, but the goal when we came out of that was “do more.” Not much more to say, honestly. Show everything on the field.
Grading his performance
My performance wasn’t the best, and I’ve got a lot of stuff to work on coming out this week.
Oklahoma’s defense
They’ve got a great coach, Brent Venables. He’s a great guy. Been doing this for a long time now, so it’s great to have this opportunity for our team and prepare as usual.
Last year’s Oklahoma game
Of course, I watched the game a few times this week. Honestly, just playing my game is my biggest thing for me.
Learning new offense
It wasn’t tough. It just came with a lot of studying and off-the-field work with that. But, I mean, the comfortability was there. Just didn’t perform. That was it.
Michigan-Oklahoma stage
Yeah, definitely, it’s going to be a big game. I’m excited for it. I’m excited for this opportunity for me and my team. Just going to move forward and be the best we can be.
