Michigan football has made a switch at quarterback.
Tommy Carr, a true freshman from Saline, has entered the Wolverines' Week 7 game against Penn State (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) to start the third quarter Saturday, Oct. 17, with the Wolverines (3-2, 0-2) trailing 3-0 in Ann Arbor.
The Michigan Stadium crowd cheered as Carr, the grandson of national championship head coach Lloyd Carr and younger brother of Notre Dame junior quarterback CJ Carr, came onto the field after Michigan received the second-half kickoff.
Carr's first play was a pass middle to big wideout JJ Buchanan for a first down and 11 yards, but Michigan stalled and punted on fourth-and-2 at its own 44. Rod Moore then intercepted a pass on PSU's first play to give Michigan the ball at PSU's 43.
A flea flicker from Carr to Buchanan on first down was well covered and incomplete. Bryson Kuzdzal then ran 43 yards for a touchdown out of the pistol formation for the lead, with momentum flipped.
Carr has been the No. 2 on the Michigan depth chart since spring ball, but had only seen the field in mop-up time against UTEP in Week 3.
"First of all, we have to get something going on offense," coach Kyle Whittingham said to CBS Sports' Jenny Taft at halftime when asked about changes for the second half. "Not running the ball well. ... Two turnovers ... I don't have an answer for you right now, we're gonna talk about it here at halftime but we gotta get something going."
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Underwood entered Saturday off a bye week having completed 67 of 113 passes (59.3%) for 881 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions.
He didn't have any rhythm Saturday against the Nittany Lions, forcing the change. His two picks were on great plays by the PSU defense, but he missed a short flat through, ripped his helmet off and was screaming as he came to the sideline.
Carr impressed in his limited run vs. UTEP, completing both pass attempts for 23 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown pass to Salesi Moa on a deep fade. Carr also ran twice for 18 yards.
“We believe in Tommy,” Whittingham said on the heels of the 52-17 win over UTEP. “He's got a bright future. It was great to see him get some action. He's a sneaky good runner. He's faster than he looks, and he's quicker than he looks, and so it was good to see him make a couple guys miss and get some productive runs. And he had a nice ball that he threw, and it was just good to get him in the game and get him some reps."
Earlier this week, Whittingham said U-M was sticking with Underwood at quarterback but didn't rule out the possibility of a package with Carr when asked about one. Underwood, who was the top-rated recruit in the nation in the class of 2025, simply hasn't lived up to the billing through a year and a half.
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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: Bryce Underwood benched for Tommy Carr in Michigan vs Penn State
