No. 18 Michigan is off to a 3-0 start this season that hasn't been without controversy, nor has it been without big wins. A way-too-close-for-comfort win over Western Michigan had everybody not only openly questioning the decision-making process of replay reviews and how time works, but also wondering what the status of supposed QB wunderkind Bryce Underwood would be going forward. Even his new coach, Kyle Whittingham, wouldn't openly commit to Underwood being the team's starter.
Underwood bounced back a bit against a much tougher defense in Oklahoma, and followed that upset win with his best performance of the season against an overmatched UTEP. But what awaits Underwood this week could be his biggest challenge to date. The zone defense of Phil Parker and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
If Parker's defense is known for anything, it's the ability to consistently confuse opposing quarterbacks and bait them into turning the ball over. It's what they'll be looking to do on the road to pull off an upset this weekend, and they're facing a quarterback who has succumbed to these kinds of tricks far too frequently. To this point in his career, Underwood has had far more trouble against zone defenses than man coverages.
He's also seen them more because opponents understand this weakness and constantly look to exploit it. The numbers below will show you why. In truth, most QBs have worse numbers against zone coverage because they're more difficult to strike for big plays against.
It's the primary reason defenses play it so much; so far this season, FBS defenses have been in zone 69.2% of the time. They want to limit explosive plays and force quarterbacks who may not be NFL caliber to put together long drives without making a mistake. If you watch a lot of college football, you understand that the QB who can consistently do that is few and far between.
They're typically the ones that get drafted in the first round when their college careers are done. So while Underwood isn't alone in having worse numbers against it, his splits are a bit more drastic than others. Here's how his numbers against zone compare to the average Power Four QB since the start of last season.
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