True freshman Bryce Underwood was efficient in his first start with Michigan football, passing for 251 yards and a touchdown in the Wolverines‘ 34-17 win over New Mexico.

The former No. 1 overall recruit was impressive enough to gain high praise from Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, who’s known for being one of the best defensive minds in college football. Underwood has quite the test in his second-career start and first college game on the road against the Sooners.

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Venables, who won two national championships as the defensive coordinator at Clemson, compared Underwood to former No. 1 overall recruit Trevor Lawrence at his pre-Michigan news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

“He’s a little different,” Venables said of Underwood. “It reminds me a lot of a Trevor Lawrence: Quick. Decisive. Accurate. Poised. Tough. Consistent. There’s a reason he was the No. 1 player in America. And he’s got a maturity and a work ethic and leadership agility to go along with that.”

Venables also said Underwood appears to be “wise beyond his years.”

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Michigan earned a huge recruiting win when it was able to gain Underwood’s commitment, as the highly sought-after prospect was previously committed to LSU. The Belleville, Michigan, native beat out Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene and others for the starting spot in the offseason.

Underwood, like Lawrence, is one of the top-rated recruits in recent memory. Lawrence ranks third in 247Sports’ all-time recruit rankings with a score of 1.0032. Underwood was rated at 0.998, according to 247Sports’ Composite rankings.

Lawrence, of course, won Clemson’s starting job midway through his freshman season before leading the Tigers to a national championship in the 2018 college football season. He then fell in the national title game to LSU as a sophomore the following season before losing to Ohio State in the 2020-21 College Football Playoff semifinals. Lawrence was selected No. 1 overall of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he still plays.

Underwood still has a ways to go to achieve what Lawrence was able to in college, but the praise from a coach like Venables, who has quite the defensive reputation, bodes well for the Wolverines.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Brent Venables compares Michigan’s Bryce Underwood to Trevor Lawrence