Winners and Losers from Michigan Football's First Half Against Indiana

The Michigan Wolverines trail the Indiana Hoosiers at halftime. Tommy Carr made his first start and had two egregious turnovers in the first 25 minutes of game action.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is Jay Hill’s defense continues to play with their hair on fire. They are the only reason this game is competitive.

More on that and some other thoughts on winners and losers at halftime of Michigan’s showdown against Indiana.

Winner: CB Jyaire Hill

Despite Gus Johnson not being able to pronounce his first name correctly, Jyaire Hill has bounced back nicely from last week’s performance against Penn State.

Hill has been targeted twice in coverage and has one PBU, and another that was well ahead of the targeted receiver. Hill was in great coverage on the play in question.

He had been Michigan’s best cornerback all season before a rough performance last week. This week, he has been excellent.

Winner DE John Henry Daley

With Dom Nichols out of the lineup, Michigan needed its top defensive end to step up against Indiana’s offense. Early in the game, John Henry Daley lived up to the billing helping force a punt for Michigan’s defense.

The Wolverines’ defense was giving some movement to Indiana’s offense on the first series of the game when Indiana tried to set up a screen on third down. Daley recognized the play, got into the face of Josh Hoover and batted the ball away. Had he not done so, it looked like the Hoosiers had some room to run for a potential first down. Instead, they had to punt.

Winner S Chris Bracy

What a player Chris Bracy has been for this Michigan defense. He had two splash plays last week against Penn State with an interception and a forced fumble that set up touchdowns for his offense.

This week, he’s been flying all over the place in the run game. He had a big TFL to set up a third down in the first half. He’s been active as a run defender, which has forced some obvious passing situations. That’s where Michigan’s defense thrives. They cannot do that if they don’t stop the run. Bracy is a big reason they have been able to stop the run.

Winner: DT Enow Etta

For a guy who was a game time decision, you could have fooled me. Enow Etta has been all over the place in the first half. He just missed a sack of Josh Hoover on the drive following Tommy Carr’s interception.

He has been active as a run defender, holding up at the point of attack. He’s been stout while playing through an injury.

Winner QB Bryce Underwood

This might read as snarky considering the struggles of Tommy Carr in the first half, but it’s another nod to how Underwood has handled himself since being benched in the second quarter of last week’s game.

Underwood remains a team captain. He still led the team out of the tunnel to start the game. He shared a hug with Tommy Carr before he took the field for his first start. He was the first player on the sideline to greet Carr after his first turnover of the game.

Underwood’s ability on the field might cause some questions, but his football character has been excellent.

Loser QB Tommy Carr

Tommy Carr was the safe option coming into the week. He is on the field because Bryce Underwood turned the ball over too much.

Carr made two decisions in the first half that certainly made him look like a true freshman. Yes, the speed option that Carr fumbled on was dead on arrival, and a play that never should have happened.

Still, Carr made a terrible decision to pitch the ball late, which resulted in a fumble that Indiana recovered.

His interception was thrown into at least triple coverage. It’s hard to blame him too much considering the circumstances, but taking care of the ball was supposed to be at a premium for the Wolverines. It has not been.

However…

Loser OC Jason Beck

I’m not a football coach, but I think anyone can see what does work for Michigan’s offense and what doesn’t. Any run outside of the tackles has been dead on arrival. There are still too many formations where Michigan has zero threats to either carry the ball, or catch a pass.

There are too many plays being called that Michigan has proven over and over again they do not excel at.

Jet sweeps, wide zone runs, options. All of them have resulted in disaster. Joel Klatt commented that he probably sounds like a broken record at the three minute mark in the second half while stating that Michigan needs to get back to downhill running.

The highest paid offensive coordinator in football appears to be the only one who doesn’t know that.

Change the quarterback, the offense still looks rough. At some point, every question about the coordinator is fair.