Tommy Carr replaces benched Bryce Underwood, leads Michigan to 21-18 win over Penn State

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Cite

Lage, L. (2026, October 17). Tommy Carr replaces benched Bryce Underwood, leads Michigan to 21-18 win over Penn State. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/tommy-carr-replaces-benched-bryce-underwood-leads-michigan-to-21-18-win-over-penn-state/article_80091873-dd65-5be8-906c-fe798dcee9f0.html

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Toronto Star · collected 2026-10-18 · by Larry Lage

Quick Summary

Tommy Carr, grandson of legendary Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, came off the bench in the second half and led his team to a crucial 21-18 victory over Penn State on Saturday. Carr’s 12-yard touchdown run with 2:58 left proved decisive as Michigan avoided losing its first three Big Ten games since 1967. Head coach Kyle Whittingham benched starting quarterback Bryce Underwood at halftime due to his recent interception issues, a move that sparked the Wolverines’ offense and ultimately secured their win.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-18, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On October 17, 2026, Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham benched starting quarterback Bryce Underwood during the second half of a crucial Big Ten matchup against Penn State, replacing him with backup Tommy Carr. This move dramatically shifted the game's momentum; Carr led Michigan to a 21-18 victory by scoring a critical touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Underwood, who had struggled with turnovers and inconsistency throughout his first year, threw two interceptions against Penn State before being replaced at halftime. With this win, Michigan improved its record to 4-2 overall and secured its first Big Ten Conference victory of the season. Whittingham stated that he would decide by Monday whether Carr or Underwood will start in next week's game against Indiana. Tommy Carr, grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and brother of Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr, has a strong family legacy in college football.

Written for “Michigan Benches Bryce Underwood” on 2026-10-19, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Michigan Benches Bryce Underwood
Sports · 4 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 15 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe Tommy Carr replacing Bryce Underwood as Michigan's quarterback, leading to their win over Penn State on the same day.”
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 12% hedged 3 of 24 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe Tommy Carr's pivotal role in Michigan's victory over Penn State on October 18, 2026.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 20 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe Tommy Carr replacing Bryce Underwood and leading Michigan to a 21-18 victory over Penn State on the same day, with Carr scoring the decisive touchdown.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
63/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 8146 article(s) · 22 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 22 correction(s)
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Larry Lage
10 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 It might not have happened if first-year coach Kyle Whittingham didn’t agree to bench Bryce Underwood at halftime and to give Carr a chance to turn around a lackluster offense and perhaps fire up a listless team.
🔮 Underwood also predicted he would win “a couple Heismans and at least one natty,” in an interview on “The Rich Eisen Show,” shortly after signing with Michigan.
🔮 While TV replays appeared to show he was not offside, Fitzgerald could not challenge the call.
🔮 Pistons general manager Trajan Langdon said last May that the team wanted to sign the All-Star center to a contract extension, but the two sides had not reached an agreement ahead of media day on Monday afternoon.
🔮 Bryce Underwood threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to JJ Buchanan early in the fourth quarter — their second scoring connection of the game — but the Wolverines (3-1, 0-1) could not make enough plays on both sides of the ball to hold on for the win.
Also by Larry Lage
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 10 articles by Larry Lage →

Topics

ANN ARBOR Mich. Michigan Penn State The Nittany Lions

Subjects

Carr PERSON · 8× Michigan GPE · 6× Penn State ORG · 5× Becht PERSON · 3× Tommy Carr PERSON · 3× Underwood PERSON · 3× Whittingham PERSON · 3× Lloyd Carr PERSON · 2× The Nittany Lions ORG · 2× ANN ARBOR GPE · 1×

Narrative

Tommy Carr jogged onto the same field where his grandfathers led a national championship team and set the school record for career interceptions, and the crowd roared. And, he made the most of the opportunity. Carr converted a third down on a 12-yard touchdown run with 2:58 left to play, giving Michigan a two-score lead it needed in a 21-18 win over Penn State on Saturday. “To score that touchdown to seal the game was huge,” he said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-18
🔮 It might not have happened if first-year coach Kyle Whittingham didn’t agree to bench Bryce Underwood at halftime and to give Carr a chance to turn around a lackluster offense and perhaps fire up a listless team.

Claims (23 extracted, 2 hedged)

Tommy Carr jogged onto the same field where his grandfathers led a national championship team and set the school record for career interceptions, and the crowd roared. And, he made the most of the opportunity. Carr converted a third down on a 12-yard touchdown run with 2:58 left to play, giving Michigan a two-score lead it needed in a 21-18 win over Penn State on Saturday. “To score that touchdown to seal the game was huge,” he said. asserted
he → jog → game
The Wolverines (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) needed the win to avoid losing their first three conference games in a season for the first time since 1967. asserted
Wolverines → need → 1967
It might not have happened if first-year coach Kyle Whittingham didn’t agree to bench Bryce Underwood at halftime and to give Carr a chance to turn around a lackluster offense and perhaps fire up a listless team. uncertain
Whittingham → happen → team
“The idea at halftime was to create a spark and Tommy did just that,” Whittingham said. asserted
Whittingham → create → that
Michigan will face a big test next week at home against No. 5 Indiana and Whittingham wasn’t ready to say who would start at quarterback in that game. asserted
who → face → game
Tommy Carr’s brother is Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr, grandson of 1997 national championship winning coach Lloyd Carr and All-America defensive back Tom Curtis, a former Wolverine who set a program record with 25 interceptions. asserted
who → win → interceptions
Tommy Carr is the son of Michigan graduates, including former walk-on quarterback Jason Carr. asserted
Carr → include → Carr
Lloyd Carr attended the game and said, “wow,” after his grandson ran for a touchdown. “ asserted
grandson → attend → touchdown
Can’t wait to see him,” Tommy Carr said. asserted
Carr → wait → him
Carr sparks comeback asserted
Carr → spark → comeback
Michigan suddenly had success on offense after Carr entered the game to cheers and Rocco Becht threw two interceptions, taking a 14-3 lead in the third quarter on Bryson Kuzdzal’s 43-yard touchdown run and Jordan Marshall’s 1-yard run for a score that was set up by Carr’s 22-yard draw. The Nittany Lions (3-4, 0-4) pulled within three points early in the fourth on Carson Hansen’s 2-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion. asserted
Lions → have → run
They had the ball with a chance to drive for a tie or the lead, but Becht lost a fumble at the Penn State 16 to set up Carr’s touchdown run. asserted
Becht → have → run
“This game is super humbling,” Becht said. asserted
Becht → say → ?
Becht bounced back with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Chase Sowell with 1:11 to go, pulling the Nittany Lions within three points again. asserted
Becht → bounce → points
Michigan recovered the onside kick, sealing the win. asserted
Michigan → recover → win
Underwood gets benched asserted
Underwood → bench → ?
Underwood threw two interceptions in the second quarter against Penn State. asserted
Underwood → throw → State
It was his fifth interception in three games and sixth this season, surpassing his total of five passing touchdowns. asserted
It → surpass → touchdowns
“Bryce couldn’t have handled it any better,” Whittingham said. asserted
Whittingham → handle → it
The takeaway Penn State: Matt Campbell was hired to turn the program around after James Franklin was fired a little more than a year ago, but the former Iowa State coach has lost four straight games just as the team did last year during a six-game skid. asserted
team → hire → skid
“We’re not where we want to be but I believe this group is pounding away,” Campbell said. asserted
Campbell → ’re → ?
The decision to put Carr in and take Underwood out of the game may have helped the program avoid starting 0-3 in conference play since the year before the Bo Schembechler era began. uncertain
era → put → year
Up next Penn State: After a bye week, hosts Purdue on Oct. 31. asserted
State → host → Oct.
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