Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham is not naming Tommy Carr the starter over Bryce Underwood – for now.
Whittingham said on Monday, Oct. 19, that he has a plan for how his team will handle the quarterback position in Michigan's (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) next game against No. 6 Indiana (6-1, 3-1), but that's for the team to know and the public to find out later.
U-M's head coach said he needed to see all the film from the Wolverines' 21-18 win over Penn State, one where Underwood was benched and Carr took over in the second half. Even after having watched it, he wouldn't make any proclamations about the plan for Week 8.
Underwood struggled yet again coming out of the bye, completing 5 of 11 passes for 43 yards to go with two interceptions, one of which
came in the final 30 seconds of the first half with Michigan on the doorstep of a field goal try. It capped a stretch where Underwood had four turnovers in four quarters, no touchdowns and just seven points in the previous three halves of play.
While Carr didn't make any spectacular throws − he was 5-for-7 passing for 47 yards − he did the most important task coaches gave him when entering the game: protect the football.
It didn't hurt that he also showed more than enough athleticism in the ground game, running four times for 36 yards which included one 22-yard scamper that was nearly a touchdown, before ripping off a 12-yard touchdown rush on a speed option on third-and-9 near the goal line to score the eventual game-deciding score.
"It was awesome," Carr said of his first true action. "I mean, just to look at the crowd cheering, walk into that in the middle of the field, and be out there with my linemen and everything, it was a great experience. And to get that first snap, complete the first pass, got me feeling good, and ready to continue with that momentum."
Michigan, which had been shutout in the first half, was able to score 21 points after the break; just the second time in six games it scored 20 points or more this season. While it wasn't just Carr − U-M finally got the run game going with big carries from Bryson Kuzdzal and Savion Hiter and the defense forced three pivotal turnovers, two of which set the offense up with short fields − his presence seemed to send a jolt through the team.
“That's the exact term, a spark for the offense, and he provided it,” Whittingham said. “That's not to be disparaging against Bryce. It was just a chance for them to really elevate their play to help out the new quarterback. That's what I’ve seen through my 30-40 years of coaching. You get a backup quarterback in, everybody gets a little bit excited."
Now comes the toughest test of the season to date, as the Hoosiers rank No. 4 scoring defense (12.9 points per game), No. 4 against the run (75.4 yards per game) and No. 10 total defense (270.6)
This is a breaking news story and will be updated
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kyle Whittingham declines to name Michigan's starting QB for Indiana
