Out of the Blue: Carr Sparks Michigan to Second-half Win over Penn State
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Michigan fans got what they wanted.
Kyle Whittingham finally pulled the plug on the Bryce Underwood show and handed the Wolverines quarterback keys to Tommy Carr.
The true freshman responded by leading Michigan on three second-half touchdown drives to secure their first Big Ten win of the season with a 21-18 homecoming victory over Penn State Saturday at Michigan Stadium.
“He came in and the players rallied around him,” said Whittingham after the game. “And that is not to be disparaging against Byrce because that is pretty typical when you have a change in quarterback that rallies and ups their level of play.
“There was a big difference in our production in the second half as opposed to the first half. A great deal of that credit goes to the defense making three takeaways in the second half, all of which led to touchdowns.”
Michigan’s offense totally fizzled in the first half with Underwood at quarterback and entered the halftime locker room trailing 3-0.
“(Underwood) only had about 70 yards and no points in the first half and we just needed to get something going to create a spark,” Whittingham said.
That all changed under Carr – the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr – who led Michigan on touchdown scoring drives of 43, 74 and 13 yards in the second half.
Carr finished 5-of-7 passing for 47 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 36 yards and one touchdown to nail down the win with 2:04 left in the game.
“(Carr) responded very well. He wasn’t perfect, he’ll get better at it. He had some key runs for us. That option there for that final touchdown, that was a great run,” Whittingham said.
Underwood threw two first-half interceptions but under Carr, the Wolverines never turned the ball over again. Eliminating turnovers was the main focus of Whittingham during the bye week.
Michigan (4-2, 1-2) finished with 301 yards of total offense. Including 211 on the ground. Freshman Savion Hiter led the attack with 78 yards on 11 carries.
Junior Jordan Marshall added 49 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown and Bryson Kuzdzal broke loose on a 43-yard touchdown run to give Michigan a 7-3 lead with 11:48 left in the third quarter.
“Anytime you can run the ball like that and that effectively, and if you win the turnover margin, you are not going to lose,” Whittingham said.
Michigan’s defense was led by safeties Chris Bracy and Rod Moore Jr., both recording key second-half interceptions to halt Penn State (3-4, 0-4) drives.
Michigan will host defending national champions Indiana Saturday at noon on FOX. The No. 5 Hoosiers had their 22-game winning streak snapped after dropping a tough 19-15 shootout against Ohio State.
Michigan has six games remaining on its schedule – all Big Ten clashes – and can get back into the race for a College Football Playoff berth if it can run the table and finish 10-2.
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