Saturday will see a matchup between two likely Hall of Fame head coaches, even if Indiana's Curt Cignetti only recently got into the limelight. On the other sideline, Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham has been doing it for decades, but has struggled since arriving in Ann Arbor after spending most of his coaching career at Utah.

On Thursday, Cignetti spoke on the Inside Indiana Football radio show about the matchup between him and Whittingham, as well as the quarterback switch that he made in the second half against Penn State.

"He's a veteran. He's got one year on me. I think he's 66. I'm 65. And Kirk Ferentz is 70," Cignetti said. "But Kyle Whittingham is a really good football coach. He's done a tremendous job at Utah and at Michigan. He's a tough-nosed guy. He's really football smart. And his team made a big change at quarterback to start the second half of Penn State.

"A lot of people saw it coming. It was kind of like when would it happen? And as soon as the guy walked in the huddle, everybody else got better. And they scored three second-half touchdowns and came back and beat Penn State and created three second-half turnovers on defense."

Cignetti is on high alert about what Carr brings to the table, not just because he came in and had success this past week, but because he has the legacy pedigree that says he can play at a high level.

"So the quarterback, you know, we're alluding to obviously," Cignetti said. "Tommy Carr. And his brother is a quarterback at Notre Dame. And his dad or his grandpap was the head coach at Michigan. And I think Tommy Curtis, the old linebacker for the Colts, if I'm not mistaken, safety at Michigan, maybe -- is somehow is tied into that also. So there's good bloodlines there.

"They're very high on this quarterback. He's 6-4. He's a freshman. Really smart. The limited snaps he's gotten this year, he's impressive. And they feel like they're a different football team now."

That said, Cignetti has only a limited idea of who he's going up against. Though he was able to scout Carr a bit from the UTEP and Penn State games, he admits that there's not a lot that he knows for certain about what Carr will present in the game on Saturday.

"You don't know," Cignetti said. "Now, look, one thing about Underwood, he got a cannon. I mean, he can flick the ball 60 yards like that. And his velocity on the ball, can run. So, he's a young guy. I don't know what kind of just didn't quite click, and they made the change.

"And this guy (Carr) is pretty polished for a freshman, based on a couple series against UTEP and one half against Penn State. That's all we got on him."

While the quarterback is the big question on the Michigan football side of things, Cignetti also notes that the defense should present the IU offense some challenges.

Though the defensive line is what typically garners headlines for the maize and blue, it's the back seven that appears to have Cignetti on high alert going into Saturday's matchup.

"They're quick up front. They've got playmakers," Cignetti said. "They've got good linebackers, 18 (Troy Bowles) in particular. Defensive backs are salty. Safety is really a good hitter, 7. You know, they're well coached. And they get after people. So they create turnovers. And, you know, we're going to have to win our one-on-one matchups."

Michigan and Indiana are set to kick off at 12:10 p.m. EDT at The Big House, with the game to be televised on Fox.