Despite the high-note ending to the 2024 college football season, the Michigan Wolverines still have a bittersweet taste in their mouth after the season. Sure, the wins over Ohio State and Alabama made a tumultuous 8-5 season go down easier, but there was still plenty left to be desired.

While there were a handful of issues, most centered on the performance at quarterback. There were no right answers on the roster as Michigan saw the collections of Davis Warren, Jack Tuttle, and Alex Orji complete 62% of their passes for just 1,678 yards, 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

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A natural urgency had to hit the backseat of head coach Sherrone Moore, and he responded by getting in-state 5-star quarterback Bryce Underwood to flip his commitment from LSU to the Maize and Blue.

As exciting as Underwood is, who threw for 44 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards in his senior season at Belleville, ESPN experts don't expect he'll win the job from the start of the 2025 campaign.

Instead, they anticipate Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene will get the first crack at the Wolverine offense. Keene threw for nearly 6,000 yards and 42 touchdowns in two seasons at Fresno State.

A transfer quarterback with four solid years (and nearly 1,200 passing attempts) of major college football is a wise investment for the offense. Still, it's no given that Keene will come in and hold firm on the job. For all of his experience, Keene struggles with turnovers, taking sacks and being consistent from game to game - or at least that's the tale his 2024 game logs tell.

Wolverine fans are no doubt excited to see Bryce Underwood take the field in Ann Arbor, but they can likely expect to see him get some limited opportunities early in the season. If those opportunities go well and Keene doesn't help the offense take another step, the door would seem to swing wide open for Underwood to take over the job for good.

ESPN predicted the starting quarterbacks for 68 major college football programs. Their choices can be seen here.

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