College football gets weirder and weirder by the year. We've already got seventh-year players extending their eligibility to play well into their 20s at the same time as 17-year-old Bryce Underwood takes the reins for Michigan football. Underwood is quite a bit younger than most of his teammates. Heck, he's even younger than some of the recruits the Wolverines are hoping will join him in years to come.
UM's 2026 quarterback commit, Brady Smigiel, is older than Underwood by just under a year. Underwood turns 18 on Aug. 19. Smigiel turned 18 last October. But he's not the only one, or the strangest.
It turns out, 2027 quarterback commit Peter Bourquet is also younger than Underwood, according to Charles Power of Rivals.
Michigan commit Peter Bourquet has two years of high school left and is still older than Bryce Underwood
Bourquet, a four-star who ranks 75th in the 247Sports composite, committed to the Wolverines on Monday. Apparently, he turned 18 in July, with his junior year still ahead of him. Originally slated for the class of 2026, he reclassified and moved back a year to the class of 2027, according to 247Sports.
That means Underwood could start two years at Michigan (he's the presumptive starter for 2025) before welcoming a true freshman to the quarterback room who is a month older than him. Wild. Underwood will be a 20-year-old junior. Bourquet would be a 20-year-old freshman.
Bourquet wouldn't be the first 20-year-old true freshman. Many a quarterback has finished their high school career older than you'd expect. Nearly two decades ago, Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen turned 20 in September of his freshman season in South Bend. More recently, Dylan Raiola played his freshman year at Nebraska as a 19-year-old. He turned 20 in May. Smigiel will be 20 midway through his true freshman season.
Age aside, Bourquet is an exciting prospect who threw for 1,737 yards and 17 touchdowns as a sophomore. He's got time to set himself up to compete to become the heir apparent to Underwood, strange as that dynamic may end up being.