The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527978
24 THE WOLVERINE ❱ NOVEMBER 2024 fewer than 10 starters on the offensive side of the football moved on. Michigan has been scrambling ever since — especially behind center. Tough finish aside, those in the winged helmets seem ready to see if Tuttle can provide the magic on a more extended basis. COULD BE TUTTLE TIME Tuttle certainly wasn't handed any- thing. Talk arose in the offseason that he might be the anointed one, come fall camp. But he never got a chance to earn that blessing. The veteran, who backed up both Michael Penix Jr. at Indiana and McCarthy at Michigan, tore the ulnar col- lateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow last season. Tuttle went through a lengthy healing process, missing spring football and pointing toward fall camp for a strong return. It didn't play out that way, and ev- ery report on him in the fall involved a version of "working through things" or "he's healing as we speak." It wasn't soon enough to prevent Warren from winning the job in camp, and it wasn't good enough for Tuttle to take over when Warren faltered. But he had been practic- ing over the two weeks leading up to the Washington game, with the light at the end of the tunnel eventually becoming the lights at Husky Stadium. Tuttle played lights out in the 17-point run. It didn't last, but afterward there remained the sense that he'd inspired a confidence somewhat lacking over the previous 5.5 games. Moore acknowledged Tuttle could have been the starter from the start, had he gotten healthy more quickly. "There's always that sense when you've got a seventh-year guy," Moore said. "He's got a chance to be good since he's played a lot of college football. But he's got to get healthy, and it's our job to coach football. The doctor's job is to tell us he can play. So, that's what we did." The 25-year-old Tuttle made 21 game appearances with five starts in his Indi- ana playing days. Last season, he got into six games but wasn't needed extensively with McCarthy staying relatively healthy and on a roll. "We'd heard some good things in the summer, right, that Jack Tuttle had surged to the front of the quarterback position, then he'd suffered the injury," noted Michigan football radio play-by-play man Doug Karsch. "He's been shelved since. At this point, I think you have to be slightly encouraged. I am slightly encour- aged — fans can feel however they want. "It was the first time all year Michigan had put together three straight scoring drives. They came out in the second half and went on a touchdown drive, which had been a problem this team had experi- enced, getting off to bad starts in the sec- ond half. My question is, is [the fumble] a product of somebody that hasn't been hit in a year? I don't know. But Tuttle's a four-star recruit, he was a top-10 quar- terback out of high school. He was just buried on a depth chart behind two future first-round NFL Draft picks in Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy. "That guarantees nothing, but at this point, when a team is still searching for the answer offensively, you'd have to think that Tuttle's performance — bar- ring any major setback in practice or the rekindling of Davis Warren or Alex Orji in the passing game — Tuttle is going to get a crack here at doing his best to give this offense a little bit more juice." Those on the field acknowledged Tuttle did just that upon his arrival. "He brought us a spark, especially the play he threw the TD to [junior tight end] Colston [Loveland]," said senior tailback Donovan Edwards. "That was just a big morale [boost] there. I loved the way that before he went into the game he told ev- erybody, listen to me … look at me. Every- body just gave all their eyes to him. He has great leadership abilities and capabilities. I'm grateful he got out there and was able to show what he could do." Edwards mentioned that Tuttle has been proving himself ever since he arrived in Ann Arbor. The seventh-year, 25-year-old Tuttle made 21 game appearances with five starts in his Indiana playing days. Last season at U-M, he got into six games backing up J.J. McCarthy. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL