Michigan’s quarterback situation has been unsettled for weeks, ever since coach Kyle Whittingham benched Bryce Underwood for freshman Tommy Carr, and the Wolverines were hoping for a calm lead-up to Saturday’s trip to Rutgers. Instead, a health update on their starter has stirred things up again. Fans reacted quickly, and a lot of them keep coming back to the same question about who should be taking the snaps.

The quarterback in question is freshman Tommy Carr, whom U-M radio reported is battling the flu ahead of his second career start. Head coach Kyle Whittingham gave an update.

“He’s had a good week for having the flu, being a little bit under the weather,” said Whittingham, as reported by On3’s Clayton Sayfie on X. “He battled through it and was very sharp when he was on the field. He’s a guy that seemingly gets better every day.”

Though Whittingham praised Carr’s performance despite illness, fans worried about starting a sick quarterback.

On3’s Pete Nakos reported that Carr will start over Underwood, though Whittingham has not publicly named his starter. With Carr taking the snaps, the debate is settled for now, but it will keep resurfacing until the coach addresses it.

Whittingham also spoke about Underwood, and he sounded like a coach who wants his backup ready if needed.

“He’s had a great attitude, as good an attitude as you could have,” Whittingham said. “Again, you don’t want him to be happy about the situation, because he’d obviously rather be playing, but… If we need to go to Bryce, my guess is he’ll be ready.”

Underwood entered the year as the expected starter, a highly touted recruit. He started six games, completed fewer than 58.1 percent of his passes, and threw more interceptions (6) than touchdowns (5). 

Whittingham pulled him after a scoreless first half against Penn State on October 17, and Carr came in to help Michigan win 21-18. That earned Carr his first start the following week against Indiana.

That start did not go smoothly. Michigan lost 13-6 in overtime to the No. 6 Hoosiers and never found the end zone, with Carr going 20-of-32 for 167 yards, one interception and a fumble on a pitch. Indiana has the No. 2 defense in the country, so some feel the test was unfair. 

Wolverine Confidential’s Aaron McMann said he isn’t sure that first start was “necessarily fair” to Carr. With all of that in mind, fans put Whittingham under fire for continuing with Carr despite his health issue.

“Start Bryce; it’s not like he’s worlds better,” a fan wrote. 

The numbers support part of that: in his last two starts, Underwood went 15 of 32 for 144 yards with four interceptions, while Carr threw one interception in his first start.

“Start Bryce then??? If we have a QB battling FLU and we START him and he does HORRIBLE then I might finally join the bandwagon against Whittingham,” another fan wrote. 

U-M radio reported the illness, but nothing says how much it will limit Carr. Whittingham has not said how much the illness will limit Carr, and some fans want more clarity. 

“Going to be Whittingham’s excuse for another poor offensive performance,” a comment read. 

Michigan did not score a touchdown against Indiana. The Athletic’s Antonio Morales and Manny Navarro called the offense a disaster and said coordinator Jason Beck has had no answers.

“Can they just start Bryce instead? This is stupid. How did we even get here…,” a fan wrote.

Carr’s health is only part of the story. The fan reaction shows how little patience is left, with some already blaming Whittingham before the game was played. A clean performance would buy him time, but another stalled offense would make the quarterback question harder to avoid, and it would put more attention on the coach’s decision.