There's no question that when Tommy Carr entered the game as the Michigan football quarterback, the offense got a spark.
It wasn't all about Carr. He did have some nice moments. There was a 22-yard completion to Hogan Hansen on a first down when Penn State brought a pressure.
That was an important play, because it was the kind of play where Bryce Underwood might have gotten himself sacked instead of making an easy completion for a first down.
That's the biggest reason Underwood needed to sit. He couldn't make the layups. Turning the ball over didn't help, but he also missed easy throws on easy reads.
So why would defenses respect the pass? The deep ball to Andrew Marsh was a perfect example. Michigan football should have made Penn State pay for aggressive defense with a touchdown pass over the top, but Underwood underthew it, and the pass was picked off.
Is Indiana going to show Tommy Carr more respect in the passing game? Probably not. He will have to prove he can make plays with his arm to win that game. Before we look ahead, though, let's look back with grades for Tommy Carr and Bryce Underwood against Penn State.
Tommy Carr was solid in his first extended action
Carr wasn't perfect. There were some missed reads in the running game, especially one that he gave to Savion Hiter, which he should have kept.
It certainly wasn't perfect. Michigan also didn't have to work incredibly hard to score. The defense gave them the ball at the Penn State 43 and again at the Penn State 13. Those were two of the touchdown drives. They lasted a combined total of five plays.
Carr engineered an 11-play, 75-yard drive to give the Wolverines a 14-3 lead. However, there were also four drives with four plays or fewer that ended in punts.
So, two three-and-outs, plus two four-play drives where the first play was a first down, followed by a three-and-out. So Michigan had one sustained drive in the second half.
Really, the Wolverines had one sustained drive the entire game. The only other drive where Michigan football had the ball longer than four plays was the nine-play, 32-yard drive to open the game that ended in a punt after a run on third-and-nine.
The biggest difference wasn't at quarterback. It was the offensive line and the running game. It helped that Michigan ran the ball inside more, although the 43-yard touchdown was a stretch play, something U-M did extremely well last season.
For some reason, this coaching staff has refused to call that play. It worked on Saturday. Beck called more of the runs that we saw last season, when the Wolverines rushed for 210 yards per game and 5.4 yards per attempt, with little passing attack.
The running game worked. Sure, Penn State wasn't quite as aggressive with numbers in the box with Carr in the game, but the 175 rushing yards in the second half, after 36 in the first, was what changed the game. Carr did have 36 of those yards. He's a better runner than people realize.
Still, Carr completed 5 of 7 passes for 47 yards. If you take away the 22-yard pass, which was a short completion, Carr threw six passes that went for 25 yards (4.1 average). He did take care of the ball. That was the biggest difference, but outside of that, Carr and Underwood were similar.
It felt like the team had more confidence in Carr, but this week against Indiana will be the real test.
Bryce Underwood gets a failing grade for Penn State
As far as grades, Underwood gets an F. He turned the ball over twice, missed Marsh for what should have been a touchdown, and passed up easy completions for throws into coverage. This doesn't mean Underwood will never be a successful quarterback, but for now, he needs to go back to square one and rebuild his confidence.
As for Carr, he gets a solid B. He executed the offense, took care of the ball, and didn't hurt his team. He didn't win the game, but he also didn't lose it.
It would be shocking if Carr wasn't the starter. Even Curt Cignetti said that is who he expects, but the Hoosiers are preparing for both quarterbacks. It feels like based on Beck's history, that is something we could see.
Maybe Underwood gets a small package of plays. He can rep them during the week. Get really comfortable in them, sort of like when Tim Tebow was a freshman, and use him in that way.
Underwood might have the most raw talent on the team. He has elite arm strength and is 6-foot-4, 230 pounds. The Wolverines should be able to find a way to utilize that.
The risk is that Underwood doesn't take great care of the ball. So even using him as a runner with some play-action stuff designed off of that, carries some risk.
It's going to take all hands on deck for this offense to work against Indiana, which might involve playing more than one quarterback.
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