The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526802
OCTOBER 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 37 BY CHRIS BALAS M ichigan quarterback Davis War- ren was the surprise starter at quarterback for the Wolverines' opener with Fresno State and the two games following, winning the job in camp. While there were some positives — 48- for-72 passing (66.7 completion per- centage), 444 yards and 2 touchdowns — head coach Sherrone Moore had no choice but to turn to junior Alex Orji af- ter Warren threw 3 interceptions in just over a half in a 28-18 win over Arkansas State Sept. 14. Warren had thrown 6 picks in three games at that point. While not all of them were his fault, two of them were careless enough to force Moore's hand. "It's just not great stuff to put on film. Yeah, I was surprised," Moore said. "It's football, though, so that stuff's going to happen, and we had to make a change. "Some of it was protection [prob- lems], but at the end of the day, we have to take care of the football. We can't have those turnovers. We take a lot of pride in making sure we don't do that. Usually, when we take care of the foot- ball, we win. That's what we're going to hope and try to do." So, Moore announced during his Monday, Sept. 16, press conference he would turn to Orji for the Sept. 21 game with USC, perhaps the pivotal game on the schedule. Through camp, many be- lieved the junior was the obvious choice, especially when veteran Jack Tuttle was sidelined with an upper-body injury. But Moore played the quarterback competition close to the vest, not dis- closing his starter publicly until game time versus Fresno State. He noted that Warren won the job the last few weeks in camp, but he was hopeful Orji would play the way he did earlier in August to put himself in contention for the starting job. Through three games this year, the junior had completed 3 of 6 passes for 15 yards — including 2 short touchdowns close to the goal line — while also rush- ing 10 times for 58 yards. "Alex will start on Saturday. I'm ex- cited for him. He's been in here champ- ing at the bit, so we'll move on from there," Moore said. "[We want him to] just take the reins, perform like he did the first couple weeks in camp. I thought he was in a really good place. … I would love to see him just take the reins and do what he's been doing the first couple weeks. "I think he's had a great couple weeks of practice … so has Davis, but obvi- ously he didn't perform in the game. I'm excited to see what Alex is going to do. He's been in here studying his tail off the last couple days like he's always been, but you can see it ramped up even more." It remains to be seen whether they'll tailor the offense to Orji or finally let him throw a bit more. The veteran didn't attempt a pass in game action last year, but the coaches have always maintained he can, and that they'd trust him to. "He's got a great arm strength. The accuracy has improved tremendously, and then [also] the things that we think could, can help us win," Moore said. "It's going to take great prep mentally and physically and spiritually this week to get him where we need to be, and I think he'll do that. "We've got [the offense] all installed. It's ready to go for him, and we've got everything adjusted for him and his skill set." As for Warren — he'll still be there if they need him. "We'll continue to support him. He's one of the players on our team, regard- less of things that happen … adversity," Moore said. "We're always going to support our players. But at the end of the day, we've got to go with the guys that we think would help us win at that time." MICHIGAN EXPLODES FOR 300-YARD RUSHING DAY Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was disappointed with many aspects of his team's 31-12 loss to Texas Sept. 7, and one of the areas he wanted to improve moving forward was the run game. ❱ MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Sherrone Moore Makes A Change At Quarterback After senior Davis Warren (16) went 2-1 as a starter but struggled with turnovers, U-M head coach Sherrone Moore made a change in the starting lineup, going with junior Alex Orji (10) prior to the USC matchup on Sept. 21. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL