5 takeaways from Michigan Football’s win over Penn State

The Michigan Wolverines improved to 4-2 on the season on Saturday after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 21-18.

Here are the key takeaways from Michigan’s victory.

Bryce Underwood should be benched

With Michigan leading 3-0 at halftime, the offense needed a spark. Quarterback Bryce Underwood was on the bench at halftime, with Tommy Carr taking over QB1 duties.

Underwood has struggled all season in all facets of the quarterback position – reading defenses, throwing schemes, and turning the ball over way too much are some glaring issues plaguing Underwood, including not throwing to wide open targets. Underwood was benched after a first half in which Michigan had 80 total yards of offense, and Underwood was 5 of 11 for 43 yards with two interceptions.

Tommy Carr was excellent coming off the bench, going 5 of 7 for 47 yards with four carries for 36 yards and a touchdown. One of Carr’s runs gave Michigan an early scoring opportunity (Jordan Marshall later scored), and he also had a 12-yard touchdown run to give Michigan a 21–11 lead with less than three minutes remaining.

We don’t know how good Tommy Carr can become, but he’s off to a good start. Michigan’s offense had zero points with Underwood at the helm and 21 with Carr as QB1. His performance was something Michigan can build on. With all the first-team reps this week ahead of Michigan’s game against Indiana, Carr should only become more comfortable doing what is asked of him within the confines of Michigan’s offense.

Michigan’s season looked doomed at halftime, trailing 3-0, and now there is hope that this team can turn things around.

The Good and Bad of Michigan’s Defense

There’s no doubt that Michigan’s defense is one of the best in the Big Ten, but it gave up far too many completions to Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht. Becht finished 28 of 44 for 267 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. A 24-yard TD run to Chase Sowell with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter cut Michigan’s lead to just 21-18.

Michigan’s defense also had many great plays, including an interception by Rod Moore, an interception, a forced fumble and sack by Chris Bracy, and a sack by John Henry Daley. Troy Bowles also stood out and continues to pace Michigan with 10 tackles against PSU.

Michigan’s defense has a high standard, and in terms of pass defense, they know they can tighten it up better than against Becht. However, Michigan’s ground defense was dominant, allowing just 65 rushing yards on 30 attempts.

Michigan’s rushing attack is headed in the right direction

Most of Michigan’s rushing success came in the second half when offensive coordinator Jason Beck opted for more interior runs to keep the defense guessing. Michigan has run way too many plays outside the running zone this season and not enough power. Beck achieved better balance in the second half and the offensive line seemed to have more energy and cohesion.

Michigan will need a strong running game to ease the transition from Underwood to Carr at quarterback. They’ll also need a strong running game next week against Indiana if they want to get another win and change the narrative of the Kyle Whittingham era of Michigan football thus far.

What’s next for Michigan?

What’s next? We don’t know. Michigan will have a tall task when Indiana visits Ann Arbor next Saturday. IU just lost to Ohio State and will likely play angry. Michigan just beat a bad Penn State team that is now 3-4 – while the Wolverines have some momentum now after the win, they still won by just three points and have a lot of issues to resolve and things to improve on.

Michigan’s win over Penn State and the way the offense played out once Tommy Carr was in the game gives the team the right kind of juice heading into the Indiana game. But if Michigan really wants to turn its season around, it can’t just compete with the Hoosiers; they’ll need a win in Carr’s first career start.