Bryce Underwood’s time as Michigan’s starting quarterback could be running out sooner than expected. He entered the season with plenty of expectations on his shoulders, but things have not gone as smoothly as the Wolverines would have hoped. Having already lost his starting position to Tommy Carr against Indiana, Underwood will serve as the backup in Week 9 against Rutgers.
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Michigan is expected to start Tommy Carr instead of Bryce Underwood vs. Rutgers after making a change last week for the Indiana game, as reported by On3’s Pete Nakos on October 28.
In his first-ever career start against the Hoosiers, Carr completed 20 of 32 passes for 167 yards but threw one interception. It wasn’t like Underwood was completely out of the game. Jason Beck used him on some specific downs, and Underwood even moved the chains on one drive. But despite the offense failing to score a touchdown against Indiana in the 13-6 loss, Whittingham has opted to continue the status quo for another week.
“Tommy did some good things,” Whittingham said after the game. “Some things we have to improve on, obviously. We could say that about everyone in the program.”
Carr first replaced Underwood against Penn State when Michigan was trailing 3-0 at halftime. The QB2 led Michigan on three touchdown-scoring drives in the second half. With just 2 minutes and 58 seconds left, Carr ran for a 12-yard touchdown into the end zone, helping Michigan win 21–18. Whittingham remained cryptic about his decision for a while but ultimately caved in.
The Michigan head coach publicly stood up for Underwood multiple times earlier in the season. However, his public support eventually shifted from backing him as the starter to praising his high character after he was benched.
“Bryce couldn’t handle it any better,” Whittingham said. “He was out there helping Tommy and talking to him between series. I love Bryce Underwood. He’s a stand-up guy, and he’s competitive.”
“He’s got a ton of want-to, and he’s got such a great personality. Just a pleasant guy to be around. It could have gone one of two ways—you either just clam up, put your head down, and sulk, or you can be positive —and he chose that route. That was great to see how he responded.”
Bryce Underwood’s performance so far
As the season started, Underwood was the undisputed QB1, and even Whittingham was happy with his decision. Since arriving at Michigan, he had started every game for the Wolverines, making him the team’s established starting quarterback. Michigan’s season-opening win against Western Michigan ended with a lot of controversy and serious doubts about Underwood’s performance.
With each game, the offensive struggles became even more prominent. However, Michigan was winning. But that changed when the Wolverines lost to Iowa and Minnesota. In hindsight, the QB position doesn’t appear to be the main concern in Jason Beck’s offense.
Heading into the bye week ahead of Penn State, Whittingham said he’ll talk to his offensive players and coaching staff. But Underwood still started the Penn State game. A half later, Whittingham made the call.
“People say, ‘Well, you should have gone to Tommy sooner,’” Whittingham said to the Detroit News. “No, I don’t think so. I think that how this has unfolded has allowed Bryce to prove himself, and again, I’m not sitting here making a decision going forward about who it’s going to be because it was not just Bryce Underwood in the first half who wasn’t playing at the top of their game.”
Despite the change, the Wolverines haven’t looked any better on offense. The rhythm is still not there, and there were some questionable calls against the Hoosiers. The only positive late in the game was that Carr made some key plays, but they weren’t enough to lead the Wolverines to a win.
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