Michigan was able to skate by Penn State thanks to a big second half, where they scored all 21 of their points as they won by a score of 21-18. Michigan had many notable players who played well in this game, and only a few who didn't.
Michigan was able to get their offense going in the second half because they made a change at the quarterback position, as well as simply executing better on both sides of the ball. Let's dive into Kyle Whittingham's biggest decision in this game and why it was the right move for this team.
The Decision: To switch from Bryce Underwood to Tommy Carr
Following the bye this week, Bryce Underwood once again got the start against Penn State. He played quite poorly once again however, and it was a continuation of how he played in the Minnesota game. Through the first two quarters of this game, Underwood was 5/11 passing for 43 yards with 2 interceptions and no touchdowns.
Michigan's offense as a whole looked completely lifeless, and Michigan was shut out in that first half. Their first half drives went like this: punt, punt, interception, punt, interception. Clearly things were not going well, especially when you consider this was coming out of a bye week against what has been a pretty poor Penn State defense.
Then at halftime Kyle Whittingham made the decision to bench his sophomore quarterback and move on to true freshman Tommy Carr.
Why it was the right move
From there, Michigan's drive chart looked like this: punt, touchdown, touchdown, punt, punt, touchdown, end of game. Michigan's offense went from looking completely lifeless to at least showing some functionality. There were able to move the ball far more successfully and put points on the board as well.
Tommy Carr himself didn't light the world on fire by any means but he finished a far more efficient 5/7 passing for 47 yards with 4 carries for 36 yards and a rushing touchdown as well. Most importantly, he made the plays that were available to him.
The decision for Kyle Whittingham was clearly the right move in this game, and it may have huge ramifications for the rest of this season as well. Needless to say, Michigan probably doesn't win this game if Bryce Underwood stays in at quarterback. There was nothing about how the offense was operating in that first half that gave Michigan fans any real confidence that things would get turned around if no changes were made.
As for the rest of the season, only time will tell if it ends up changing Michigan's season but at least for one week Michigan finally looked like it had a competent offense. This upcoming game though Michigan will welcome in the defending National Champions in the Indiana Hoosiers, who have a terrific defense. For Michigan, the switch to Tommy Carr has to be a long term move and let's hope he can continue to play well the rest of this season.
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