Michigan football fans expected a dominant kickoff to the season, but instead, they got a massive scare against an FBS opponent. The Wolverines barely scraped by Western Michigan with a controversial 13-12 win, leaving a trail of questions about their highly touted quarterback, Bryce Underwood. With a high-stakes matchup against the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners looming at the Big House, former Michigan All-American left tackle Taylor Lewan decided it was time to step in with some unfiltered truths.

Speaking on a recent panel alongside Will Compton and Josh Pate, Lewan did not sugarcoat the situation. He noted that the young quarterback is dealing with a brand-new kind of spotlight, one fueled by a monstrous $12 million NIL package and immediate expectations to be perfect. After a week of endless internet critiques, Lewan laid out the ultimate football reality on ESPN College Football:

“The whole world wants this kid to fail this week because there may or may not have been a second on the clock, and there must be justice for another Michigan team in this state,” the former Wolverines lineman said (via @ESPNCFB on X). “So if I’m in his camp, I’m sitting there and saying, ‘Listen to it, digest it, and understand. This is the real world right now. You get paid a lot of money. There’s a lot of expectation on you, and if you don’t perform, the worst thing is going to happen. He needs to run the football as much as possible. He needs to protect the football when he’s throwing it.”

For Lewan, the biggest hurdle for the young signal-caller isn’t just the opposing defense. It’s the invisible weight holding him back on the field.

The former offensive lineman believes the program needs to stop shielding its young star if they expect him to grow. He explained that the team has to let the player be free, make mistakes, and handle the pressure head-on.

“But more than anything, he needs to let the guardrails off of himself. He needs to go out there and live and die by the sword. But more than anything, he has to understand something you and I say to each other every time there’s adversity striking one of our lives: no one’s coming to save you. You can only save yourself. I’m there with him. I’ll be sitting there on Saturday and rooting for the kid. I want him to be successful, and I believe he still can be that guy. But truly, it’s a do-or-die situation for him.”

The majority of Wolverine fans cut him some slack last season because he had no QB coach to guide him. One of the first things Kyle Whittingham did when he arrived in Ann Arbor was to hook him up with Jason Bateman and a QB coach while promising to run the offense to the best of his abilities.

Despite all that offseason work, the debut of the Underwood-Whittingham era turned into a rollercoaster. The former five-star QB completed just 54.5% of his passes for 170 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, while adding 47 yards and a score on the ground. The game only ended in a victory because of a chaotic, last-second 47-yard Hail Mary pass to JJ Buchanan. Because the final whistle was muddled by a stadium clock controversy, fans and rival analysts across the country have been loudly calling out the offense’s stagnation.

Now, the stage is set for what many are calling the biggest game of Underwood’s young life because of the stakes involved in his role in Ann Arbor. Head coach Kyle Whittingham has already hinted to the media that the starting job isn’t guaranteed forever.

Rumors are swirling because backup Tommy Carr has suddenly been taking 20 percent of his practice time with the first-team offense. If the starting offense continues to sputter in the first half against Oklahoma, the staff might pivot to Carr to spark a change.

Compounding the drama is Oklahoma’s notoriously aggressive, exotic defense under Brent Venables.

The Sooners were a brick wall last week, pitching a massive 51-0 shutout against UTEP. They completely suffocated the Miners, giving up a microscopic 198 total yards and grounding the passing game to just 86 yards. The Sooners lived in the backfield all night long, racking up four sacks and 10 tackles for loss, while forcing two fumbles.

Mind you, Underwood struggled heavily on the move last week, going just 2-of-8, throwing outside the numbers when pressured. To survive this weekend, analysts suggest Michigan must completely reopen the playbook, lean heavily into Underwood’s elite running ability, and let him use his natural athleticism to extend plays.

Everyone in Ann Arbor wants to see the former top recruit succeed, but top-tier college football waits for no one. If Underwood wants to quiet the critics and keep hold of the starting job, he has to be the one to orchestrate the turnaround, as Lewan highlighted.