Michigan trailed Penn State 3-0 at halftime inside its own stadium and had almost nothing on offense. Bryce Underwood did not play in the second half. Michigan won 21-18.
That is the headline, and it is a big one, because Underwood arrived as the No. 1 recruit in the country and the centerpiece of Michigan’s rebuild.
Underwood’s Day Was a Mess
He finished with 43 passing yards and threw two interceptions in the second quarter. The first bounced off Andrew Marsh and into Zion Tracy’s hands. The second was a one-handed grab by Josiah Zayas. That is five picks over three games and six for the season against five touchdown passes.
Kyle Whittingham, in his first season at Michigan after signing a five-year deal, had been fielding questions about the quarterback spot since the opener against Western Michigan. On Saturday he finally made the move.
Tommy Carr Did Not Have to Be Spectacular
Carr went 5-of-7 for 47 yards and ran for 36 more. His line will not impress anybody. His 12-yard touchdown run with 2:58 left put Michigan up 21-11 and won the game.
The name matters here too. Carr is the grandson of Lloyd Carr, who coached Michigan to the 1997 national title and was in the building Saturday. His other grandfather is Tom Curtis, a College Football Hall of Fame defensive back at Michigan. His father Jason was a walk-on quarterback for the Wolverines. His brother CJ starts at quarterback for Notre Dame. A freshman with that bloodline leading a homecoming comeback writes itself.
The defense carried the first half. Rod Moore intercepted a pass in the third quarter and Bryson Kuzdzal ran 43 yards for the touchdown that made it 7-3. Jordan Marshall scored from a yard out, then closed the game with an eight-yard run after Michigan recovered an onside kick. Chris Bracy added an interception and a strip sack that Enow Etta recovered.
Rocco Becht hit Chase Sowell for a 24-yard touchdown with 1:11 to go to make it 21-18, but Becht also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble at his own 16 that set up Carr’s go-ahead run.
What It Means for Michigan
The Wolverines are 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. They avoided an 0-3 conference start for the first time since 1967, which should tell you how bad things were getting. Whittingham now owns a quarterback decision that will define his first year in Ann Arbor.
Start Carr. Underwood is a talented sophomore who will probably be very good, and nothing about Saturday changes that over the long haul. But a team sitting at 1-2 in the league cannot keep absorbing two-interception halves while it waits for him to settle down. Carr moved the offense, and that is the only audition that counts right now.
Penn State is 3-4 and 0-4 in the Big Ten, losers of four straight under Matt Campbell. The Nittany Lions have a bye before hosting Purdue on Oct. 31. Campbell has his own quarterback question, and his is harder to answer.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.