The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526802
62 THE WOLVERINE ❱ OCTOBER 2024 M ichigan had 28 offensive possessions with senior Davis Warren as the pri- mary quarterback in its first three games (Fresno State, Texas, Arkan- sas State). Here's how those drives ended: • Touchdowns: 6 • Punts: 7 • Field goals: 5 • Turnovers: 7 • Turnover on downs: 1 • End of half: 2 One year after J.J. McCarthy threw 5 interceptions through 15 games en route to the national championship, Warren had sur- passed that number, tossing 6 picks in just three outings as the starter. Michigan had just 8 turnovers all of 2023 and 7 through three weeks in 2024 — an alarming trend. Twenty-five percent of Warren- led drives ended up in a turnover. That's bad in basketball — no Di- vision I men's college hoops team turned it over more than 24 percent of the time last season — let alone on the gridiron. Not all of the giveaways were Warren's fault, of course, but at some point the quarterback has to bear the brunt of the issue. Warren made some nice throws, showing off his immense arm talent, during the nonconference slate, but the bad outweighed the good. Those kinds of costly mistakes jeopardize the team's ability to win and the quarterback's sta- tus as the starter. Head coach Sherrone Moore pulled the plug in a 28-18 win over Arkansas State, with Warren throwing his third pick of the afternoon late in the third quarter. "We had to make a change," Moore said afterward. Two days later, he named junior Alex Orji the starter. Orji engineered a 9-play, 90-yard drive after coming in against the Red Wolves. Eight of the nine plays were runs, all except a 9-yard touchdown pass to cap it off. Orji brings that ele- ment but is unproven as a passer, with only 20 career yards through the air. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder's talent as a runner will open up possibilities on the ground, but his inexperience as a passer brings up concerns with the Wolverines' ability to be a balanced offense. Regard- less, this was brought on by Warren fail- ing to take care of the football. He left Moore with no choice. Protecting the ball is the No. 1 job of the quarterback, especially with the Wolverines' playing style. Michigan has won for a long time by controlling the clock and playing bend- don't-break defense. The Wolverines' slow pace makes the margin for error slim … but they didn't make many big errors the last three seasons, leading to a 40-3 record in that span. Orji's up, and we'll see if he can answer the bell. WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY The big question in all areas head- ing into Michigan's 2024 season was: "What's changed?" That's especially true for the de- fensive side of the ball, which lost its entire coaching staff, including coordinator Jesse Minter, to the NFL. First-year coordinator Wink Mar- tindale spent 20 years in the NFL. He's known for his aggressiveness, which made some fans nervous, since the Wolverines have been good at sit- ting back in coverage in recent years. It's a small sample size, but we do have some early indications. Yes, Michigan's been more aggressive in the early going, and no, the Wolver- ines aren't having the kind of success they did last season, but both facts could be due to personnel. Remem- ber, there are seven new starters on the unit this year. Per Sports Info Solutions (SIS), Michigan has blitzed on 38.7 percent of passing downs, compared to 20.2 percent last season. That's a pretty big gap. However, the Wolverines aren't getting the kind of pressure without blitzing that they did a year ago. They're making the quarterback un- comfortable on just 31.2 percent of their non-blitz passing snaps, compared to 39.1 percent last season. Michigan hasn't been effective at get- ting pressure even when blitzing, too, which is another issue. The Wolverines have generated pressure on 35.4 percent of passing plays when blitzing, compared to 56.6 percent in 2023. "People love to watch a defense that pressures — as long as they hit," Martin- dale said this summer. "They don't like it when they don't hit, and they gain 12 yards. So, there's that fine line." It's fair to say it's early, and that Mar- tindale is figuring out what exactly will work to get after opposing quarterbacks with the group of players he inherited. If Michigan can get more pressure with four or fewer rushers, that'd be a great start. ❏ SAYFIE BLITZ ❱ CLAYTON SAYFIE Threw The Ball Around, Found Out Junior Alex Orji was named as Michigan's starting quarter- back headed into the Week 4 matchup with USC. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Staff writer Clayton Sayfie has covered Michigan athletics for The Wolverine since 2019. Contact him at Clayton.Sayfie @on3.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @CSayf23.