The Michigan Wolverines improved to 4-2 on the season on Saturday after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 21-18.
Here are key takeaways from Michigan’s win.
Bryce Underwood needed to be benched
With Michigan trailing 3-0 at halftime, the offense needed a spark. Quarterback Bryce Underwood was benched at halftime, with Tommy Carr taking over QB1 duties.
Underwood has struggled all season in every facet of the quarterback position — reading defenses, throwing mechanics, and turning the ball over far too much are a few glaring issues plaguing Underwood, including not throwing to wide-open targets. Underwood was benched after a first half in which Michigan had 80 yards of total offense, and Underwood was 5-of-11 for 43 yards with two interceptions.
Tommy Carr played well
Tommy Carr was excellent off the bench, going 5-of-7 for 47 yards with four carries for 36 yards and a touchdown. One of Carr’s runs gave Michigan a 1st & goal opportunity (Jordan Marshall later scored), and he also had a 12-yard touchdown run to put Michigan up 21-11 with under three minutes to go.
We don’t know how good Tommy Carr can become, but he’s off to a great start. Michigan’s offense had zero points with Underwood at the helm, and 21 with Carr as QB1. His showing was something Michigan can build on. With all the first-team reps this week ahead of Michigan’s tilt with Indiana, Carr should only become more comfortable doing what’s asked of him within the confines of Michigan’s offense.
Michigan’s season looked doomed at halftime, trailing 3-0, and now there’s actually hope this team can turn things around.
The good and bad of Michigan’s defense
There’s no doubt Michigan’s defense is one of the best in the Big Ten, but they gave up far too many completions to Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht. Becht was 28-of-44 for 267 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. A 24-yard passing TD to Chase Sowell with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter cut Michigan’s lead to just 21-18.
There were also a lot of great plays made by Michigan’s defense, including an interception from Rod Moore, an interception, a forced fumble and sack from Chris Bracy, and a sack by John Henry Daley. Troy Bowles was also a standout and continues to pace Michigan in tackles with 10 against PSU.
Michigan’s defense has a high standard, and in terms of passing defense, they know they can tighten it up better than they did against Becht. However, Michigan’s rushing defense was dominant, allowing just 65 rushing yards on 30 attempts.
Michigan’s rushing attack is trending in the right direction
- Savion Hiter had 11 carries for 78 yards
- Jordan Marshall had 14 carries for 49 yards with one touchdown
- Bryson Kuzdzal had two carries for 38 yards with a touchdown
- Tommy Carr had four carries for 36 yards with a touchdown
- Michigan had 211 total rushing yards
Most of Michigan’s rushing success came in the second half when offensive coordinator Jason Beck opted for more inside runs to keep the defense guessing. Michigan has run far too many outside run zone plays this season and not enough power. Beck hit a better balance in the second half, and the offensive line seemed to have more energy and cohesion.
Michigan will need a strong running game to ease the transition of Underwood to Carr at quarterback. They’ll also need a strong running game next week versus Indiana if they want to pull off another victory and change the narrative about the Kyle Whittingham era of Michigan football to this point.
What’s next for Michigan?
What’s next? We don’t know. Michigan has a tall task when Indiana comes to Ann Arbor next Saturday. IU is coming off a loss to Ohio State and will likely be playing angry. Michigan just beat a bad Penn State team that’s now 3-4 — while the Wolverines have some momentum now after the win, they still won by only three points and have a lot of issues to clean up and things to get better at.
Michigan’s win against Penn State and how the offense played once Tommy Carr was in the game does give the team the right kind of juice heading into the tilt versus Indiana. But if Michigan is to truly turn their season around, they can’t just compete against the Hoosiers; they’ll need a win in Carr’s first career start.