The only regret Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham has about a game plan featuring quarterback Bryce Underwood as a runner is that it didn't come sooner.
Whittingham said Monday that Michigan's approach for the season opener against Western Michigan didn't help fully feature Underwood, who struggled for much of the contest before throwing a 47-yard Hail Mary touchdown to secure a 13-12 win.
Underwood had nine runs for 42 yards and a touchdown against WMU, but he saw his rushes total double in Saturday's 17-10 upset of then-No. 11 Oklahoma. The sophomore quarterback had a career-high 18 carries for 87 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown in the first half.
Underwood did not need to be convinced about increasing his rushing load and is "eager to do it," Whittingham said.
The quarterback attempted only four pass attempts in the second half and none in the final 10 minutes, but Michigan's run-heavy approach had more success. While at Utah in 2025, Whittingham and offensive coordinator Jason Beck emphasized the quarterback run, as Devon Dampier had 835 yards and eight touchdowns and the Utes finished second nationally in rushing (266.3 YPG) and fourth in scoring (41.2 PPG). Beck joined Whittingham at Michigan in the same role.
"The [quarterback] run game is always going to be a part of what we're doing," Whittingham said. "We can't go too crazy with it, because there's a finite amount of times you can carry the ball, and you put yourself in harm's way too much, then something will happen that's not good. But he definitely had a huge impact on this past game. He's a very good runner, and we plan to continue to utilize that in some capacity, pretty much every week."
