Saturday was a big game in that both Michigan football and Penn State needed a win in the worst way. And while the Nittany Lions are licking their wounds, winless after four Big Ten tries, the Wolverines have renewed hope. Because they didn't just win, they had a bit of a philosophy shift.
Kyle Whittingham switched quarterbacks in the second half, after going scoreless in the first, and with Tommy Carr leading the charge, the offense moved, even though it wasn't much through the air. Suddenly, the style of play changed, and it worked strongly to Michigan's advantage.
Now, many in the national media are wondering if the Wolverines can make some noise. After all, both losses were by one possession, seemingly with a hand tied behind their back. But
if the maize and blue can figure out the offense, given the defense, things could change in a hurry.
Here is what some of the major outlets and voices across college football are saying in the aftermath of Michigan's 21-18 win over Penn State.
ESPN
Michigan's 21-18 win against Penn State ended a two-game skid, but not before quarterback Bryce Underwood was benched in favor of Tommy Carr. This was bound to happen. All the money Underwood received to play for Michigan is a sunk cost. Kyle Whittingham couldn't let him continue to go out there and expect different results. As much as everyone at Michigan wanted -- and still wants -- Underwood to succeed, the offense had been too bad not to give Carr a chance.
And when Carr came on in the third quarter after a scoreless first half, the offense improved. Bryson Kuzdzal ran for a 43-yard touchdown, Carr guided the Wolverines on an 11-play, 74-yard touchdown drive and later rushed for a 12-yard score.
Whittingham admitted that Carr gave the Wolverines the spark they were hoping he would provide, but stopped short of naming him the starter for next week's game against Indiana. With the writing on the wall, it would be shocking if Carr didn't get the nod.
Carr didn't fill the stat sheet: He completed just 5 of 7 passes for 47 yards. But after Underwood was 5-of-11 for 43 yards and two interceptions, it was clear who gave Michigan the best chance to win.
Sports Illustrated
The No. 1 quarterback recruit in the class of 2025 was benched after a miserable first half in the Big House, one that again ended in audible boos from the Michigan faithful after the Wolverines went scoreless and trailed visiting Penn State 3–0. Underwood went 5 for 11 for 43 yards and two interceptions, both of which came in Penn State territory, and he was replaced by backup Tommy Carr, a true freshman. Carr, who arrived at Michigan as an early enrollee in the class of 2026 this past January, isn’t quite the recruit that Underwood is, but comes to Ann Arbor with an impressive pedigree as the younger brother of Notre Dame CJ Carr and grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr. Like Underwood, he too bleeds maize and blue. (. . .)
Given his standing as a five-star recruit and the No. 1 QB in the high school class just two years ago, Underwood is sure to have a number of suitors should he enter the transfer portal. It may not come at a national championship contender or at a program with as deep pockets as Michigan. But Underwood’s college career is far from finished. He’s just 19 years old and has time to develop. There’s also been too many examples of quarterbacks who have flourished after a change of scenery—even if they haven’t struggled quite as mightily as Underwood has in his first 19 starts.
But it’s become clear that the place to thrive isn’t Ann Arbor. Two different head coaches haven’t mattered. Two different offensive coordinators haven’t made a difference. Whatever’s going on hasn’t worked and in this era of college football, it’s hard to believe that both sides will stick through another half-season of growing pains to try and come out stronger in Year 3.
Crain & Cone
David Cone: I'll tell you what: for Michigan fans, this has been, and I think will continue to be a disappointing season. based off the expectations that you're coming in with. With year two Bryce Underwood. And just the track record of Kyle Whittingham coming in year one here. But you just beat Penn State at home. You had to.
Just live in the moment. Someone had to win a Big Ten game today out of these two teams. You beat Penn State at home. And like you said, something felt different when Tommy Carr came in. And obviously we've been getting questions for months now at this point. Like what's the problem? Is it all Bryce Underwood? Is it all the offensive coordinator Jason Beck? Should they just move on to Tommy Carr? Like we're not at practice, right? If you just do a seven-on-seven practice, Bryce Underwood who runs 4.3 and is built like a Greek God, I can understand why you fall in love with a guy like that in the pocket. Can throw the football an absolute mile. But we said this about Davis Warren when he was the quarterback two years ago, right? Throwing for only 60 yards against Ohio State, and that was enough to beat them 13-10.
At some point, knowing what your identity is, is a net positive, right? Even if it's not the most athletic person who can run out there in a certain position, whoever can allow you to know what your identity is. And it just felt like that's what the Michigan offense knew in the second half of that game for some reason. Hey, this is who we're running with now. So this is the way we have to attack this defense now. And you end up rushing for 200 yards. They didn't score a point on this Penn State defense who couldn't stop anyone the last couple weeks. You get shut out in the first half, and Tommy Carr comes in, and you end up winning the game like that with three touchdowns. The proof's in the pudding.
Fox Sports
As the Wolverines trail Penn State 3-0 on Michigan's home turf, head coach Kyle Whittingham benched Bryce Underwood in the third quarter. Through the first two quarters of play, Underwood completed 5 of 11 passes for 43 and two interceptions. The Wolverines now have true freshman quarterback Tommy Carr under center.
Andy & Ari
Ari Wasserman: I mean, they had zero points in the first half and 21 in the second. So I think it improves it. But in terms of like what, like Michigan's a 1-2 team in the Big Ten right now, like, do I think that all of a sudden they're going to go win out and get back in the playoff discussion? Probably not. But I do think that it was a change that needed to happen because, listen, they still have Indiana, Oregon, UCLA, and Ohio State on the back half of their schedule. Like this could get pretty ugly. And I think that you needed to do something to jumpstart the enthusiasm in the building. Things were dire.
I also don't know, Andy, about the dynamics of, or the optics even of paying somebody as much as they're paying Bryce and not working out and sticking with him too long. Like, I'm sure that there's something to it too, where you got to try to win your locker room back. I'm sure there's people in the locker room who are happy about this change. And you saw a difference when he came in. It wasn't like he came in and it was just like business as usual. Like there was a better output than we had seen from them all year. So, we know what his brother can do. We know that he was a highly touted, exciting prospect and obviously young people get better at a faster clip than older people do because they're learning more on the fly. So if I'm a Michigan fan, I'm obviously watching with renewed interest, and they certainly as crazy as this to say, I like Michigan still controls their own destiny to the playoff. Like truly if they went out, so that's there.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: National media reacts to Michigan benching Bryce Underwood for Tommy Carr
