The embers of The Game’s 27-9 Ohio State rout were still smoldering when Michigan freshman QB Bryce Underwood poured gasoline on the fire. In a scorching postgame sideline interview that aired on BTN and exploded across X, the No. 1 overall recruit didn’t hold back: “If they want Ohio State to win at all costs, just hand them the national championship trophy right now and spare us from playing these meaningless games.” Underwood’s tirade—accusing three officials of “deliberately ignoring every single penalty committed by the Buckeyes”—put the Wolverines at a “severe disadvantage,” he claimed, capping a nightmare debut in the rivalry where he went 8-for-18 for 63 yards, sacked thrice, and watched his squad muster just three field goals. He doubled down, slamming Buckeye counterpart Julian Sayin as “an insult to my career” and a “cheater,” before the Big Ten slapped him with a $25K fine and a stern NCAA warning for conduct detrimental to the game. For a 9-3 Michigan squad licking wounds from their first Game loss since 2021, Underwood’s outburst wasn’t sour grapes—it was a Molotov cocktail, reigniting cheating whispers in a rivalry already scarred by sign-stealing scandals.
The Spark: Underwood’s Underwhelming Outing Meets Officiating Outrage
Underwood entered The Game as Michigan’s golden arm—a true freshman who’d dazzled with 2,800 yards and 25 TDs, even trash-talking LeBron James pre-season: “It’s over for Ohio State.” But Saturday? Over before it started. Ohio State’s top-ranked D (No. 1 in points allowed) blitzed him into oblivion: Four sacks, two INTs (one returned for a pick-six setup), and a paltry 163 total yards—the Wolverines’ lowest output since a 2020 COVID opt-out clunker. “We knew we had him in a blender,” Buckeye DE Kenyatta Jackson Jr. grinned postgame, crediting Larry Johnson’s scheme that forced conservative calls— just five passes in the first half.
The ref beef? It boiled over early. Underwood zeroed in on three zebras—head ref Greg Burks, linesman Mike Moeller, and umpire Tab Slaughter—for “ghosting” Buckeye infractions: Uncalled holds on OSU’s game-sealing 12-play drive, a phantom DPI on Jermaine Mathews Jr. for a “pass 10 yards out of bounds,” and overlooked roughing on Sayin’s third-quarter bomb. Michigan’s sideline erupted after LB Jaishawn Barham’s near-headbutt on an official (light contact, unsportsmanlike only—no ejection, per pool report’s “judgment call”). Underwood, mic’d up in the heat, barked at Burks: “You see that hold? Every play!” The clip, viral with 2M views, flipped the script—Michigan, fresh off 2023-24 sign-stealing sanctions, now playing victim.
Sayin? The dagger. Underwood’s “cheater” jab targeted the Alabama transfer’s “spotty” ethics—whispers of unreported NIL perks and a “fumbled” snap that magically became a TD before replay reversal. “Facing him? Insult to my career,” Underwood seethed, grading the 245-yard, 3-TD maestro as “system QB with rigged refs.” Buckeyes fired back: Sayin shrugged in his presser, “Words don’t block sacks.”
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