News Article
Published
Oct 18, 2026 at 12:17 PM EDT
One halftime switch turned Michigan’s game against Penn State around and left the Wolverines with a quarterback call to make.
Tommy Carr, a first-year quarterback who entered once Bryce Underwood was pulled at intermission, scored on a 12-yard keeper with 2:58 showing. That go-ahead run secured a 21-18 Michigan Wolverines victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Oct. 17.
Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham hasn’t named a starter for the next game and isn’t promising to announce one.
“We will have a great idea when we all know exactly what the plan is on Monday. How much of that we’ll let out of the bag, we’ll see,” Whittingham said.
Carr finished 5 of 7 for 47 yards and ran for 36 more without a turnover in only his second outing as a Wolverine, The Detroit News reported.
“Coach came up to me and said it was my time. I’ve prepared for this since Day 1, so I was ready, and my teammates had my back. We played a great second half and got the job done,” Carr said.
Underwood had gone 5 of 11 for 43 yards with two interceptions before the switch, per The Detroit News.
The ground game carried the rest. Michigan ran for 211 yards, 174 of them after halftime, according to the school’s official report on the game.
Bryson Kuzdzal raced 43 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead, and Jordan Marshall later scored from 1 yard out.
Penn State coughed it up three times. Rod Moore Jr. and Chris Bracy picked off quarterback Rocco Becht, and Bracy forced a fumble in the fourth quarter.
Now 4-2 and 1-2 in Big Ten games, Michigan picked up its first league victory under Whittingham. Penn State dropped to 3-4 with a fourth straight loss.
Through six games, Underwood had 924 passing yards while completing 58% of his throws, with seven total touchdowns and eight turnovers, according to ESPN.
Over the bye, Carr took roughly 50% of the first-team practice reps, The Detroit News reported.
Whoever gets the nod will draw No. 5 Indiana at Michigan Stadium on Oct. 24, with a noon ET kickoff on Fox.