Kyle Whittingham has officially put his quarterback on notice. Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood had a rough outing in the team’s Week 1 win over Western Michigan, and his head coach isn’t sugarcoating the situation. Whittingham was asked about Underwood’s job security following one of the most controversial endings to a college football game we will probably ever see, and his response should raise alarms in Ann Arbor.

The game came down to a Hail Mary because Underwood had a bad game. Not just a shaky game or a forgettable one. A really bad game. This comes on the heels of his first year at Michigan, where he wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire either. The hope was that Underwood used the offseason to develop and take a leap. Based on what we saw in Week 1, there wasn’t a whole lot of optimism surrounding that.

Whittingham delivers a blunt message

So what did Whittingham say when asked about Underwood’s future as the starter?

“It’s not something that’s infinite. At some point we’ve got to turn a corner,” said Whittingham in post by On3.

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That is a pretty strong statement from Whittingham, because Bryce Underwood isn’t just any quarterback. He was one of the highest-rated recruits in the history of the Michigan program, a 5-star prospect wanted by every program in the country. He’s being paid millions of dollars to be in Ann Arbor. This is not a guy you bench after one rough game and kick to the curb.

From the financial aspect alone, Michigan would probably want to keep him in there as long as possible. So if Whittingham has reached the point where he is publicly stating that Underwood’s grip on the starting job is not guaranteed, that’s a major red flag. That is a problem.

The schedule only gets harder from here

I have this situation circled because the questions surrounding Underwood only multiply from here. If he is going to struggle against Western Michigan, what happens at the end of the season against Ohio State? What happens when the Big Ten schedule ramps up? What happens when he’s down big-time points in the fourth quarter against a ranked opponent?

These are all questions Michigan has to answer. These are all questions Whittingham is wrestling with after going back and watching the tape. He was probably just as upset watching the film, if not more upset, than he was during the game itself.

Oklahoma looms as a prove-it moment

The bottom line is Whittingham is right. Underwood has to turn that corner, and it should probably happen this week against Oklahoma. If the Wolverines come out and play the way they did against Western Michigan against a program like Oklahoma, it could be a wrap for Bryce Underwood as the starting quarterback in Ann Arbor.