Urban Meyer is not mincing words about Michigan’s quarterback situation. After watching the latest stretch, he says Tommy Carr has earned the starting job over Bryce Underwood, and the biggest reason is simple: Carr has fit the offense far better.
Meyer laid out his case on Dan Dakich’s Outkick show, pointing to the fact that Carr has been able to step in and run the same system with far less disruption than Underwood has brought to the table. That, in Meyer’s view, matters even more this late in the year.
“Tommy Carr is a guy that Kyle Whittingham has been talking (about),” Meyer said. “I talk to Coach Whitt every couple of weeks.
And he loves the kid. But he actually loved Bryce Underwood.
He's a great worker, incredible talent. He's the only first-round talent I saw on that field.
We covered him a couple times this year. He's a freak athlete.
"Against Oklahoma, he ran, and he played a really good game against Iowa. So I thought he was starting to come together.
And then it hasn't been good. So normally when you have like a Chris Leak and a Tebow, they're two completely different offenses.
And you have a different game plan. I watched what they did with Tommy Carr.
They ran the exact same. He scored on a Bryce Underwood play.
And he almost scored on another Bryce Underwood play. So they're running the same offense.
So the transition wasn't that difficult.
If you have two different styles of offenses, it really cuts into your practice time, especially this late in the year. So, but I think that Coach Whitt can say whatever he wants, Tommy Carr is your starting quarterback.
Oh, yeah, it's over. He has to, yeah.
He scored 21 points. They lose that game if Bryce Underwood's in that game."
Even with that blunt endorsement for Carr, Meyer did not write off Underwood. He said the quarterback still showed the kind of engagement that suggests Michigan isn’t done with him.
“The positive is, and I watch closely, is he was so engaged,” Meyer said. “He must be a hell of a guy. You know, he must be.
“A lot of times you would think he might pack his bags and go, but he was engaged. He's fully engaged.
He's still relatively young. I'm not giving up on Bryce Underwood.
I saw what I saw. I see a freak athlete that probably played before he was ready.
So I would not give up on that kid. And what does that mean?
For Kyle Whittingham, all he's got to do is find a way to compete against Indiana. He can't worry about that.
At some point, you gotta worry about that. Not now.”
Meyer’s comments come ahead of Michigan’s meeting with Indiana on Saturday in Ann Arbor. Kickoff is set for 12:10 p.m. EDT, with Meyer on site for Fox’s broadcast.
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