It wasn't how Michigan envisioned freshman Tommy Carr presumably making his first start. Bryce Underwood was supposed to be the guy this season for the Wolverines, and Michigan thought he was going to make drastic improvements under Jason Beck.
Michigan has yet to publicly announce a starter for this weekend against Indiana, but after Underwood was benched in favor of Carr this past weekend, most people believe the true freshman will get the start this weekend.
Head coach Curt Cignetti believes the same thing. Although he knows Underwood is capable of making plays, he foresees his defense facing Carr in Michigan's opening series.
Cignetti also thinks Michigan could deploy a two-quarterback system this weekend against his Hoosiers — something Whittingham said he wasn't in favor of.
"You can see what you need to see in the second half of Penn State, in my opinion, which I watched," Cignetti said. "I'd assume it would be him [Carr]. It could be two quarterbacks on the field at the same time. That would not surprise me. They did a lot of that at Utah, and the other guy [Underwood] can make plays. So, schematically, they didn't change a whole lot in the second half."
Cignetti sings Michigan's praises
While Michigan is a work in progress on the offensive side of the ball, the Wolverines continue to produce an elite defense. Michigan bent quite a bit in the win over Penn State, but the Wolverines made plays when they needed to.
Michigan forced three takeaways in the win and the Wolverines answered the call. The coaching staff has been preaching that Michigan needs to force more turnovers and that's what it did against the Nittany Lions.
"Really impressed with their defense, their quickness, their tenacity," Cignetti said. "The way they play, play in, play out, the way they run the ball. This top flight defense. Offensively, they've got good running backs. Quarterback came in, played really well. I mean, the other quarterback has a cannon and can run, makes a lot of plays with his legs. And so, they'll be feeling pretty good about themselves after that victory. It'd be a very physical football game again, our eighth game in a row."
Indiana starting quarterback Josh Hoover has yet to throw an interception this season, and has 18 touchdown passes, but Ohio State's defense forced some inaccurate passes this past weekend. The Wolverines will want to pressure Hoover on Saturday, and if he completes around 50% of his passes for the second game in a row, Michigan's defense has a puncher's chance to force a turnover.
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