Michigan got back in the win column by beating Penn State 21-18 yesterday at home. The first half was very ugly, with the Nittany Lions leading 3-0 at the break. Bryce Underwood got the start and played another bad half of football. He was 5/11 with 0 TDs, and 2 INTs and the offense as a whole was completely lifeless. Then Kyle Whittingham made the decision to switch to Tommy Carr for the second half.
From there, the Wolverines were able to put together some scoring drives and the defense forced three turnovers as well. Michigan was able to hang on at the end by recovering an onside kick attempt from Penn State, and closed the game out with a 1st down run by Jordan Marshall. Let's dive into who played well, and who didn't in this game for Michigan and what it means for the rest of this season below.
Stock Up: Tommy Carr
I'll start with the obvious one, Tommy Carr came into the game and made an immediate impact. He completed 5/7 passes for 47 yards passing and also ran for 36 yards on 4 carries and one TD run. There's no denying that the offense showed signs of life once Tommy came into the game after looking completely lost in the first half.
I don't believe switching quarterbacks will suddenly fix all of Michigan's offensive issues, but it was a very clear improvement from what we saw when Bryce Underwood was leading the charge. Only time will tell if Tommy Carr can keep the quarterback job, as Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham neglected to give him the job to him outright after the game, but you'd have the think he's the guy moving forward for the Wolverines.
Stock Down: Bryce Underwood
The follow up to the Tommy Carr paragraph is that Bryce Underwood played very poorly once again in this first half. It was a continuation of the Minnesota game for him, where he struggled mightily for much of that game, as it's been a very poor last six quarters for the sophomore quarterback.
His whole career has been very up and down, at times looking like he's on the cusp of taking a step forward and also at times looking like he's just not cut out for being a starting quarterback in the Big Ten. A lot can still change in the next six games, but at least for now, Bryce Underwood appears to have lost his job.
Stock Up: Chris Bracy
Chris Bracy was fantastic in this game for Michigan. He made several highlight reel plays, the most important one being an interception of Rocco Becht in the early stages of the second half. He also had a great tackle at the line of scrimmage to stop a Nittany Lion for no gain, broke up a play pass down the field late on the second half, and added a strip sack as well for good measure.
To put it simply, he was all over the place in this game. He played great and went on to finish with 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass deflection, and the 1 interception. If Michigan gets this version of Chris Bracy for the rest of the season, look out.
Stock Down: Jyaire Hill
Jyaire Hill had a rough day, as Chase Sowell ate his lunch for just about the full four quarters of this game. The two #0's were often lined up in 1 on 1 situations and Sowell won much more than his fair share of the matchups. Chase Sowell in total had 11 catches for 151 yards and 1 TD, much of coming when matched up directly against Jyaire Hill.
Hopefully Hill can put this game behind him because he's got two more great wide receivers to match up with next week in Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh for the Indiana Hoosiers. Michigan needs him to bounce back and play much better next week.
Stock Up: John Henry Daley
John Henry Daley had another good game, making a handful of plays. He had only 3 tackles with 1 sack and 1.5 tackles for loss but there were a few other plays that he made that somebody else on the defense got the tackle for. He's been banged up recently, listed as questionable for at least two of Michigan's recent games but coming off the bye week he looked healthy once again in this one.
Michigan needs him to play well because their defense is a lot scarier when you have to worry about him rushing the passer at full strength. If this game is any indication, he looks healthy once again and that's a great sign for Michigan's defense moving forward.
Stock Down: Smith Snowden
The other cornerback, Smith Snowden, also had a bit of a tough game as he found himself victimized by Chase Sowell a couple times too. He wasn't really that bad in coverage, but he was in good position a couple of times when the ball was in the air and just failed to make a play on the ball allowing the offensive player to make the play instead.
He's been pretty good this season for the most part, but I'd like to see him make a few more plays while the ball is in the air moving forward. He'll also have a big test next week against Indiana and if Michigan wants to continue on in their win streak, they need both cornerbacks to play much better.
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