Michigan’s Week 7 win did more than snap a two-game skid. It also changed the conversation at quarterback, with Bryce Underwood pulled at halftime and freshman Tommy Carr stepping in to spark the offense. Michigan scored touchdowns on two of its first three second-half drives, then added another late to put the game away.
For now, the Wolverines still haven’t locked in what comes next. Kyle Whittingham praised Carr, but he did not say whether the freshman will keep the job or whether Underwood will get another look.
That uncertainty in Ann Arbor is part of a much bigger QB picture across the Big Ten, and several Saturday developments mattered for Michigan’s road ahead.
The wildest finish of the day came in the Ohio State-Indiana matchup. With just over a minute left and Indiana facing fourth-and-4, Josh Hoover hit Nick Marsh for what looked like the winning touchdown. Marsh, though, could not get both feet down in bounds, and the play ended in a turnover on downs.
That loss snapped Indiana’s 22-game win streak that dated back to the 2025 season opener.
For Michigan, the bigger issue was what happened to Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin. Sayin went down with an arm injury in the fourth quarter, and Ryan Day said he would be out for "several weeks." Freshman Luke Fahey came on in relief, and he will presumably start in two week as well.
Sayin still has a little more than a month to get back before Ohio State’s regular-season finale against Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he’ll be ready for that game. Day did not provide a firm return date, and even once Sayin is cleared, he may need time to get back into rhythm. Until that timeline becomes clearer, this one stays front and center.
UCLA also gave Michigan something to watch, even in a game that leaned heavily toward defense. Against Wisconsin, the Bruins forced three punts on their first three defensive series, while Wisconsin answered with an interception to finish the first half and another to open the third quarter.
The game stayed tight until the fourth quarter, when UCLA finally created separation. Anthony Woods finished the Bruins’ third-to-last drive with a 3-yard touchdown to make it 17-7.
Wisconsin never really responded. Its final two possessions covered just 10 plays and 29 yards.
That result matters because UCLA comes to Ann Arbor in just over a month, and the Bruins are still sorting through life after Nico Iamaleava’s season-ending knee injury last week. Ty Dieffenbach got his first start, and while one game doesn’t tell the whole story, he did enough to keep the offense moving.
Michigan won’t need Dieffenbach to be a star when UCLA arrives, but he does need to be functional enough to keep defenses honest and prevent them from loading up against the run. If he can do that, Wayne Knight and Anthony Woods can keep doing damage.
Oregon’s game with Nebraska finished ugly, and for Michigan, the most important takeaway is that the Ducks still look shaky without Dante Moore. Through three quarters, Oregon had only six points. Nebraska was only slightly better, leading by eight over that stretch.
The game opened up in the fourth quarter, when Oregon finally found two scoring drives and kept Nebraska from mounting anything on defense. The clock-control moment came when Nyziah Hunter could not get out of bounds, which effectively ended Nebraska’s hopes.
That situation matters because Oregon visits Ann Arbor on Nov. 14, and the Ducks’ offense has not looked right without Moore. Dylan Raiola had three turnovers in his start a week earlier, and Brock Thomas followed with an even rougher outing on Saturday, finishing with just 54 passing yards and -3 rushing yards before Raiola came back in at the start of the fourth quarter.
Moore’s status remains unsettled after a severe concussion against USC two weeks ago, and whether he’s available by the Michigan game could end up shaping that matchup as much as anything else.
In Other News...
Indiana Was At The Center Of A Costly Officiating Controversy
Indiana has already found itself in the middle of one officiating controversy this fall, even before the wider fallout from the Notre Dame-BYU clock mistake became a talking point. In the Ohio State game, a roughing the passer penalty extended an Indiana drive and kept the momentum shifting at a key moment, another reminder of how one call can change the shape of a game long before the final score is settled.
The Notre Dame-BYU ending only added more attention to the issue, with a clock error costing the Cougars a final play and prompting the Big 12 to acknowledge the mistake and review its end-of-game officiating process. For Indiana, it is the kind of cross-connected storyline that lingers around a season when the biggest outcomes can hinge on the smallest details, and the latest uproar only sharpens the scrutiny on how these games are being handled. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Fans Have One Big AP Poll Debate After Costly Loss
Indianas loss on Oct. 18 landed in the middle of a wild Saturday for the AP Top 25, one in which five teams ranked inside the top seven went down. Notre Dame, Georgia, Indiana, Alabama and Texas all took losses, and the ripple effect should make the next poll one of the most shuffled in recent memory.
For Hoosiers fans, the bigger debate is less about the defeat itself and more about where Indiana fits when the rankings reset around it. With teams such as BYU, Oregon and Oklahoma State also in the mix after their own recent results, the new AP Top 25 could look significantly different, and Indianas place in that picture will be one of the most closely watched calls. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Still Looks Built For A Playoff Push After First Loss
Indianas first loss of the season barely changed the national math around its playoff case. After falling to Ohio State, the Hoosiers slid just one spot to No. 6 in the AP Poll, but the bigger-picture numbers still show a team that the models continue to trust. ESPNs FPI moved Indiana up two places to No. 5, and Bill Connellys SP+ kept the Hoosiers at No. 5 as well.
Those rankings matter because they help frame what comes next in the Big Ten race and the College Football Playoff debate. A one-loss Indiana team can still make a strong argument if it keeps winning, and the metrics suggest the loss in Columbus did not knock the Hoosiers out of the conversation. The tougher question now is whether Indiana can finish strong enough to keep that path open. [Read more 🡒]