Michigan benches Bryce Underwood at half vs Penn State game — then scores 2 TDs
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The start of the second half presented a fresh chance for a Michigan football offense that had been shut out in the opening 30 minutes of its game against Penn State.
It came with a new quarterback, too.
The Wolverines made a long-speculated move at quarterback, benching Bryce Underwood and inserting freshman backup Tommy Carr for their opening drive of the second half in their Week 7 matchup against the Nittany Lions on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Carr completed his first pass for 11 yards to JJ Buchanan for a first down, but the offense stalled out from there, with a Carr 3-yard pass to Andrew Marsh getting stopped two yards short of the sticks three plays later to force a punt.
Following a Penn State interception, Michigan scored its first points of the game with Carr under center, though the trip to the end zone came courtesy of a Bryson Kuzdzal 43-yard rushing touchdown. After another Rocco Becht interception on the Nittany Lions' next drive, the Wolverines again capitalized, going on a 74-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 1-yard Jordan Marshall run into the end zone to give his team a 14-3 lead. Of the 11 plays on the drive, only one of them was a Carr pass.
Through his first three drives of the second half, Carr had completed three of four passes for 36 yards, along with two rushing attempts for 26 yards.
Underwood, a former five-star recruit signed to a lucrative NIL deal at the school, has struggled for much of his sophomore season. That trend continued against Penn State, with Michigan managing only 80 yards on 23 plays in the first half, an average of just 3.5 yards per play. Underwood was a part of that dismal offensive effort, completing only five of his 11 pass attempts for 43 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. He also had 30 rushing yards on seven attempts.
Carr, a four-star recruit in the 2026 class, is the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and the younger brother of Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr.
Bryce Underwood stats
At halftime of Michigan's game against Penn State, and with his team staring at a 3-0 deficit, Underwood had completed only five of 11 passes for 43 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, along with 30 rushing yards on seven attempts.
In the Wolverines' first five games, he had completed 67 of 113 passes (59.3%) for 881 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions to go along with 212 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 57 carries.
As a freshman in 2025, Underwood completed 60.3% of his passes for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. That season, he added 392 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 88 yards.
Who is Bryce Underwood's backup?
Freshman Tommy Carr has been the backup to Bryce Underwood as Michigan's quarterback for most of the 2026 season before taking over as the starter after halftime of the Wolverines' game against Penn State.
To learn more about Carr, click here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan benches Bryce Underwood at half vs Penn State game — then scores 2 TDs
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