Poise of Michigan QB Tommy Carr 'second to none'

Tommy Carr's composure is the stuff of legend around Michigan — and the Wolverines may soon be counting on it.

When Carr was Saline High School's quarterback last year, his coach Kyle Short was pulled away from the homecoming game against Dexter because his wife was going into labor. Watching from the delivery room with Saline trailing 27-19 at halftime, Short got Carr on the phone to go over adjustments. "All right, sounds good. I got it," Carr told him. He then threw a school-record eight touchdown passes in a 61-34 comeback win. "His poise and composure is second to none," Short said. "That's just something he's always had." The Shorts later named Carr their son Kasen's "God-athlete parent."

Carr displayed that same calm Saturday in Ann Arbor, taking over for Bryce Underwood to start the second half against Penn State with Michigan trailing 3-0. The freshman directed three touchdown drives in a comeback win that could make him the Wolverines' new starting quarterback. Coach Kyle Whittingham declined to name Saturday's starter against No. 6 Indiana, saying only: "We know exactly what we're doing and the plan going forward."

Carr's football bloodlines are unmatched: grandfather Lloyd Carr coached Michigan to the 1997 national title, maternal grandfather Tom Curtis was an All-American safety, and father Jason quarterbacked the Wolverines in the 1990s. But Tommy wasn't a can't-miss recruit — he played behind his blue-chip brother CJ, now Notre Dame's star quarterback, and initially committed to Miami (Ohio) before Michigan general manager Sean Magee flipped him. "I was literally secretly watching him every week his senior year," Magee said. "He's just a winner. He's got the 'it factor' about him."