Tommy Carr gets first Michigan football moment: 'We believe in Tommy'
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The camera panned to the suites in Michigan Stadium and he was hard to see behind Tammi Carr jumping for joy and sharing a long hug.
But there he was – former Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr, in his familiar blue hat with a maize Block "M," smiling from ear to ear. His grandson, U-M backup QB Tommy Carr, had just thrown the first touchdown of his college career − a high-arching, perfectly placed ball on a slot-fade from 19 yards out to highly regarded freshman Salesi Moa (in the first score of his career, too).
It was an emotional moment for the Carr family, who went through heartbreak with the loss of Tommy's younger brother, Chad, to diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma – a brain cancer better known as DIPG – in November 2015. On Saturday, Sept. 19, however, there was pure joy. That was true in Ann Arbor, as Tommy had his first Michigan moment, and in South Bend, Indiana, where oldest brother CJ led No. 3 Notre Dame to a 27-10 win over Michigan State.
“We believe in Tommy,” U-M coach Kyle Whittingham said on the heels of a 52-17 win over UTEP. “He's got a bright future. It was great to see him get some action. He's a sneaky good runner. He's faster than he looks, and he's quicker than he looks, and so it was good to see him make a couple guys miss and get some productive runs. And he had a nice ball that he threw, and it was just good to get him in the game and get him some reps."
Carr, a true freshman out of Saline, finished his first collegiate action with a flawless performance: 2-for-2 for 23 yards and a touchdown, plus two runs for 18 yards, including a 12-yarder on third-and-4.
Carr drew rave reviews during spring practice then backed it up in the Maize vs. Blue Game, going 21-for-30 for 143 yards, plus 59 yards rushing on 10 carries. Calls to increase his playing time grew after starter Bryce Underwood struggled in Week 1, but the sophomore has since shown improvement.
Underwood, towel wrapped around his head, looked as excited as anybody as he ran over to Carr after the throw and jumped in the air to bump chests, then gave a friendly shove to his understudy.
“I think it says a lot of good things,” Michigan defensive tackle Jonah Lea’ea said of Underwood's reaction “I feel like everybody on this team’s kind of rooting for each other. We’re all trying to push each other to get better. So to see Bryce cheer on Tommy like that is pretty cool. To see Tommy score was pretty dope, too.”
Carr was previously committed to Miami (Ohio) as a three-star recruit, but when Whittingham arrived in Ann Arbor, his staff made it a priority to not let another Carr brother leave the state. Carr has done ample work with the Wolverines, and Whittingham feels he's following in his brother's footsteps.
CJ Carr entered the season as a Heisman Trophy favorite, and with the Fighting Irish still unbeaten, his credentials grow by the week. Even with his work against the Spartans, CJ caught Tommy's appearance, noting the degree of difficulty on the play afterward
"I’ve seen him make that throw a bunch," he told reporters. "He looked bigger in the uniform, too. He’s a skinny guy. But he looked good in the Michigan uniform. Super-excited to see him throw that type of pass; that’s an elite throw."
The Carr bloodlines run deep in Michigan football. In addition to Lloyd, who won 122 games over 13 seasons at U-M (including a national championship in 1997), Carr's maternal grandfather, Tom Curtis, was a consensus All-American safety in 1969. Carr's father, Jason, meanwhile, was a backup QB at U-M from 1992-95. Will Tommy be the next in his family to thrive in maize and blue?
That's a question for the future, though. More importantly for Whittingham, Carr is putting himself in position to make big plays with his work off the field.
“Had a chance to sit down with his grandfather [Lloyd] for about an hour a couple months after I got here, and what a treat that was,” Whittingham said. “It's great to see [Tommy] be ready when his number's called. Every time I walk by that quarterback room, I don't care what time of day it is, if he doesn't have class, he's in there watching tape.
"He's a student of the game. He's a football junkie, and to me, his ceiling is exceptionally high. What his brother is doing at Notre Dame is outstanding. I think Tommy's cut from the same cloth and has that same type of upside.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
Next up: Hawkeyes
Matchup: No. 18 Michigan (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 17 Iowa (3-0, 0-0); Big Ten opener.
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.
TV/radio: CBS; WCSX (94.7).
Line: Wolverines by 4½.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tommy Carr gets first Michigan football moment: 'We believe in Tommy'
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