Michigan’s offense was an embarrassment in the first half against Penn State, and Bryce Underwood certainly wasn’t helping his case. Three first downs, just 80 yards of offense, zero points, and two interceptions. Quite the performance from a quarterback Kyle Whittingham had been defending. But apparently, Whittingham had finally seen enough. He benched Underwood at halftime and handed the offense to freshman Tommy Carr, who helped Michigan pull off a 21-18 comeback victory. Turns out, the Wolverines just needed a quarterback change to remember how to score.
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But the win only complicated Michigan’s quarterback situation. Asked about Carr’s impact during his postgame press conference, Whittingham acknowledged that the freshman provided exactly what the offense needed.
“Well, that’s the exact term that we’re looking for, a spark of the offense, and he provided it and came in, and players rallied around him,” he said.
He also cautioned against reading the decision as a declaration that Tommy Carr was the better QB. Sometimes, he explained, a change in QB gets the rest of the offense moving, too. So yeah, Michigan won, but the afternoon was hardly a glowing endorsement of its offense before the switch.
Bryce Underwood’s first half was difficult to defend. He completed five of 11 passes for 43 yards and threw two interceptions. Michigan went into the break trailing 3-0, having produced little through the air or on the ground. So Tommy Carr inherited an offense that needed a pulse.
His opening possession offered a small glimpse of what might be possible. A slant to receiver JJ Buchanan moved the chains, even though Michigan eventually had to punt. It wasn’t an instant transformation, but Tommy Carr looked comfortable enough to keep the offense from feeling completely overwhelmed.
He finished the second half with five completions on seven attempts for 47 yards, no interceptions, and 36 rushing yards on four carries. He also scored the fourth-quarter touchdown that put Michigan in position to close out the game.
“The difference is our ability to take the ball away in the second half and also rush the football over 200 yards, 6-point something a carry,” Whittingham said. “I think they had 60 or 70 yards rushing. So that was a huge difference.”
Tommy Carr’s legs proved particularly useful. He broke off a 22-yard run that initially appeared to be a touchdown before officials ruled him short. Later, on third-and-9 from the Penn State 12-yard line, he kept the ball on a speed option and ran into the end zone. But he didn’t do it alone.
Bryson Kuzdzal ripped off a 43-yard touchdown run, while Jordan Marshall added a one-yard score. As Kyle Whittingham pointed out, Michigan’s defense also delivered three second-half takeaways, each leading to a touchdown. So while the QB change mattered, everything around it mattered, too.
Kyle Whittingham said Tommy Carr was prepared, pointing to how frequently the freshman studied film and worked in the QB room. He also acknowledged there were areas Carr needed to improve.
“We’ll take a good, hard look at the tape and see how things bogged down the first half and why we were better in the second half,” he said.
Kyle Whittingham didn’t claim credit for the switch. Michigan’s offensive staff, led by Jason Beck, pushed for it, and he backed their call. That’s a shift from days earlier, when he insisted, “Bryce is our guy, and we move forward.”
Tommy Carr wasn’t thrown into the deep end, either. He took about half the snaps during the bye week. Still, Kyle Whittingham isn’t handing him the credit after one win.
“Again, it’s nothing like Tommy better than Bryce or anything like that,” he added. “That was just a chance for them to really elevate their play to help out the new quarterback.”
He stopped short of naming the starter for Michigan’s Oct. 24 matchup against Indiana. The film review will determine whether Tommy Carr’s second-half spark is enough to earn the job or whether Bryce Underwood gets another opportunity.