Tommy Carr and Bryce Underwood Both See Action During First Half of Michigan-Indiana Game

The Michigan Wolverines played coy about their quarterback plans for Saturday's matchup with the Indiana Hoosiers, declining to officially name either freshman Tommy Carr or incumbent Bryce Underwood as the starter for the game. However, as reports midway through the week indicated, the coaching staff gave the nod to Carr, the signal-caller who played the entire second half of the previous week's victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Still, while Carr started Saturday's tilt and saw the vast majority of the action under center, the Wolverines opted not to leave Underwood entirely on the sideline.

Bryce Underwood sees action despite Kyle Whittingham's earlier statements

Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham kept his cards close to his vest for most of this week, but he did make one fairly definitive statement about the quarterback situation. When asked if Carr and former starter Underwood could platoon against Indiana, Whittingham dismissed the notion.

"It's something that has worked for some people through the years. I've never been big on it," Whittingham said on Monday. "I don't know if percentage wise, you hear the old adage, 'If you have two quarterbacks, you don't have one.' Everyone's heard that thing. So, we'll see what happens. But as far as teams I've coached, it's never been a real prevalent thing for us."

However, Underwood did see action during the second quarter, taking a rep at quarterback with Carr lined up wide as a pass-eligible receiver. On the play, Michigan offensive coordinator Jason Beck called a designed run for Underwood that resulted in a loss of 1 yard.

"They told us they'd have packages for him," Fox Sports play-by-play commentator Gus Johnson said when Underwood took the field, suggesting that Whittingham and the staff had the plan in place by the time of their TV production meetings.

Tommy Carr's play in the first half

While the decision to play Underwood appears premeditated, Carr's play during the first half didn't exactly give Michigan a compelling reason to leave the offense entirely in the freshman's hands. Carr made multiple critical mistakes, including an ill-advised pitch on an option play that led to a Michigan turnover.

At halftime, Carr had completed nine of his 14 passes for 65 yards, zero touchdowns, and an interception. He also had seven rushes (including sacks) for 15 net yards and the aforementioned lost fumble.

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