Related Links: Top 25 roundup: No. 2 Penn State cruises 70-24 Michigan edges Notre Dame in front of record crowd Game summary Top 25 scoreboard Listen to college football audio Forum: Can Michigan win the Big Ten?
	T O P   N E W S

Well, it actually was 3:43 p.m. -- when the Wolverines first got the ball -- that fifth-year senior Tom Brady was unveiled as Carr's starter at Michigan Stadium.

Three hours later, with the Wolverines trailing by three late in the fourth quarter, we learned why Carr started and, more important, finished with Brady instead of sophomore Drew Henson.

Brady orchestrated a seven-play, 58-yard touchdown drive with time running out, giving the No. 7 Wolverines a thrilling 26-22 victory in front of the biggest crowd to see a college football game in the modern era (111,523).

"Beating Notre Dame in the season opener at the Big House, it doesn't get any better than this," Brady said.

The Wolverines trailed the No. 16 Fighting Irish 22-19 with just under 4 minutes to go when Brady stepped under center at his own 42 and got his team rolling.

First, he hit tight end Shawn Thompson for a 15-yard gain. A couple of plays later, Brady again showed his senior poise, rifling the ball between two defenders and into the arms of receiver David Terrell at the Irish 5. And three plays after that, tailback Anthony Thomas rumbled in from 2 yards out for the winning score.

"Four minutes left, you just have to make a decision," Brady said. "You score, you win. You don't score, you lose. We made the right decision today."

As did Carr, who has waffled over his starting quarterback since spring camp and even put Henson in at the start of the second quarter to keep the competition between his two signal-callers going.

However, Brady (17 of 24 for 197 yards) emerged as the No. 1 guy -- if only for the moment.

"In all fairness, it wouldn't have been right not to play the other guy," Carr said. "That's how close it (the competition) was. We're going to see what happens here. I think that Tom Brady played extremely well. I think Drew Henson played extremely well.

"I've always made it clear that I'm a one-quarterback guy. And, yet, sometimes you have to change."

Brady has to be wondering what he must do to finally change Carr's mind in his favor for good. Brady completed 61 percent of his passes while leading the Wolverines to a share of the Big Ten title last season, and did nothing to lose his job Saturday.

He promptly went to work on a pair of scoring drives in the opening quarter. He was 4 of 5 on the Wolverines' first possession, including a 23-yard strike over the middle to Terrell, who was closely covered by cornerback Clifford Jefferson. The play set up a first-and-goal at the Irish 9 and led to a 21-yard Jeff Del Verne field goal that gave the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.

Following an Irish turnover at the Wolverines 44, Brady -- with a lot of help from Thomas (32 rushes, 142 yards, two touchdowns) -- set up another field goal by Del Verne from 35 yards out.

But about a half-hour after Brady's afternoon began, there was Henson -- who spent most of the summer playing minor-league baseball for the New York Yankees -- trotting out for the start of the second quarter.

"I'm not even worried about that," Brady said of being replaced. "I just had to go out there and execute."

Henson executed well on his first drive, going 3 of 6 and guiding the Wolverines to a 37-yard field goal, which give them a 9-7 lead with 7:59 left in the half. However, the offense sputtered with Henson (3 of 8 for 40 yards) in the Wolverines' final two possessions of the half, and the Irish went into the locker room with a 14-9 lead.

Brady stepped in after the break, and he put together a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to start the third quarter. Along the way, he found Terrell (eight catches, 115 yards) on the sidelines for 28 yards, hit Terrell again over the middle for 14, then blistered one into Knight for a 14-yard gain to the Irish 20.

Four plays and a pass-interference call on the Irish later, Thomas ran in from 2 yards out to put the Wolverines in front again.

"I was loose," Brady said. "Coach told me at halftime I would start in the third quarter."

Two possessions after the Wolverines' go-ahead score, Brady went 2 of 3 for 21 yards while setting up another Del Verne field goal, which made it 19-14 Wolverines with 2:48 left in the third quarter.

That was enough for Carr to stick with his starter in the fourth quarter, but not enough to name Brady his permanent No. 1 QB.

"When we went into the fourth quarter, I thought we had some momentum offensively and so I didn't make a change," Carr said. "But we're not going to change what we're doing, at least for the next two games."

Although the Wolverines remain in the midst of a quarterback controversy, the Irish have no such problem. Jarious Jackson was outstanding in a losing effort, going 18 of 29 for 302 yards and a touchdown.

Michigan tailback Anthony Thomas pounds for some of his 138 yards against Notre Dame.(AP)

His seven-play, 65-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter was fit for the highlight reels. Jackson was 5 of 5 in the drive, including a 20-yard touchdown strike to tight end Jabari Holloway. Jackson also hit receiver Bobby Brown for a two-point conversion and a 22-19 Irish lead before Brady's late heroics.

"Jarious Jackson has the heart of a lion," Carr said. "He's a great football player."

Jackson almost left Carr with a broken heart. Following the Wolverines' go-ahead score with 1:38 remaining, Jackson again led the Irish down field. But with only one timeout remaining, the clock ran out with the Irish on the Wolverines 12.

"I was here during the Colorado game," Carr said. "So I've seen a lot of bad things happen at the end of a football game. Fortunately, it didn't happen again today."

What did happen, however, was the re-emergence of Brady as a legitimate No. 1 quarterback.

Perhaps next week vs. Rice, Carr will do the right thing and give him the ball for the season.