Bryce Underwood isn’t improving. Michigan can’t pretend otherwise | Opinion

Bryce Underwood isn't improving. Michigan can't pretend otherwise Opinion.

Key points

• Ohio State vs Iowa football live updates Game score, highlights for Major Ten showdown.
• The College Football Unfiltered crew gives their picks going into Week 5.
• Michigan has lost to Minnesota, Iowa, and Western Michigan, raising reservations concerning the team's performance.
• Quarterback Bryce Underwood's play is described as worsening under first-year coach Kyle Whittingham.
• Michigan's offense has struggled, gaining only 189 yards in the loss to Minnesota.

Bryce Underwood isn't improving. Michigan can't pretend otherwise Opinion. Matt Hayes USA TODAY. College Football Week 5 Picks.

In practice, the College Football Unfiltered crew gives their picks going into Week 5.

Michigan is just fooling itself now. This is no longer regarding how much capital you've invested into quarterback Bryce Underwood. It's regarding diminishing returns.

After losing to middling Iowa and lowly Western Michigan – no matter what the Major Ten states with its inane separate game clocks excuse, michigan lost again Saturday, this time to middling Minnesota.

What was clear in the first month of the season is now undeniable in the first week of October: Underwood isn't getting better under first-year coach Kyle Whittingham.

Another game of missed throws and bad decisions, another game Michigan should've won but didn't. Another game where the highest-paid player on the Michigan roster is the reason the Wolverines continue bumbling around with the gimme games on the schedule.

Opinion: Bill Belichick, UNC only cosmetically close in loss to Notre Dame.

This time it was Minnesota. It beat Michigan in Minneapolis for the first time since 1977. Last week it was Iowa and an offense that's more ineffective than Michigan's.

And let's not forget Western Michigan. It held Michigan to seven points before an assist from Major Ten replay.

We haven't even hit the heavy lifting portion of the Michigan schedule, but it's time Whittingham gives freshman Tommy Carr an opportunity. If you're not beating the Minnesotas and Iowas of the Major Ten, you've secured major difficulties with Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State.

How much longer will Whittingham keep banging his head against the Major Ten wall with a quarterback he didn't recruit? More to the point in this NIL-driven world, a quarterback he didn't pay?

Notably, the Michigan offense is an operational mess. Missed throws and missed reads. Bad routes and drops. Sacks and pre-snap penalties.

Overthrows, under throws, tipped passes. You name, it Michigan has endured it with Underwood.

How utterly laughable has the Michigan offense become? The Wolverines scored all 14 points since of two Minnesota interceptions.

One led to a short field touchdown, the other to a 74-yard return for a touchdown. Other than that, Underwood completed 10-of-21 passes of 101 yards and two interceptions. All informed, Michigan had 49 plays for 189 yards. Pitiful.

In practice, the Michigan offense had six series after going up 14-7, and it was regarding as ugly as you'd think: end of half, interception, interception, punt, punt, downs.

Forget regarding the excuses of the last month, the conversation must move from what if, to what now? The bye week allows Michigan to obtain Carr extended time with the first team in parctice, before struggling Penn State rolls into Ann Arbor.

And forget regarding the millions invested in Underwood. At some point, it's regarding winning games. Not watching an investment tank.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville. Share your feedback to support improve our site!

In short, bryce Underwood isn't improving. Michigan can't pretend otherwise is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.