The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527978
26 THE WOLVERINE ❱ NOVEMBER 2024 BY CHRIS BALAS M ost knew Michigan foot- ball wasn't going to be as good this year as last season, a special year in which Team 144 won the College Foot- ball Playoff national championship. The Wolverines lost a dozen and a half or so players to the NFL, including elite players such as J.J. McCarthy and Blake Corum on offense, and Junior Colson and Mike Sainristil on defense, and U-M had ques- tion marks all over the place on offense entering this season. Add one of the nation's most challeng- ing schedules, and there was legitimate concern that Team 145 would have a hard time contending in a tough Big Ten. This year's squad stood 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play through six games after a 27-17 loss at Washington in its first road game Oct. 5. With road trips to tougher- than-expected Illinois and Indiana still on tap, a home game against Oregon and a road trip to Columbus, things will have to improve quickly if head coach Sherrone Moore and Co. are going to salvage a very good season. "Right now, we're 4-2, and our job is to play the second half of the season and go try to win every game," Moore said head- ing into the Oct. 12 bye weekend. "We'll work our tails off. We have an opportunity to get better this week, get better next week, and then get ready for Illinois." The leaders insisted they were on board. "It's a collective thing," senior running back Donovan Edwards said. "Coach meets with us every Monday, wants to get back to the drawing board come Mon- day. But ultimately, it's the captains' job to [uphold] team morale. I'm going to con- tinue to uplift everybody the best I can. At the same time, being a captain, I have to point out the bad things, too. There are a couple things we have to clean up." That's across the board. We grade the Wolverines through six games, position by position. QUARTERBACK — D- It's our job to be honest, and the sad reality is this position hasn't been any- where good enough this year. Senior Da- vis Warren started the season and turned it over 6 times on interceptions in three games before being replaced. Though they weren't all his fault, he panicked at times and, frankly, looked like a guy who hasn't played a lot of football in his life (which he hasn't due to illness). He was improving and went 11-for-14 with some nice throws in a 28-18 win over Arkansas State in September, but his other three passes were picked off. Warren completed 68 percent of his throws with 2 touchdowns and the 6 picks before being replaced by junior Alex Orji, who finished the Arkansas State game and was named the starter the following Mon- day. He received praise for being a steady hand under center and protecting the ball in a 27-24 win over USC, but he only threw for 32 yards in the game, relinquishing the spotlight to the running backs. Although he helped the team to a 27-24 win against Minnesota, Orji was replaced one week later after going 3-for-7 with 15 yards in just over a quarter at Washington. Seventh-year grad transfer Jack Tuttle took over with 12 minutes to go in the half and led three consecutive scoring drives to give the Wolverines a 17-14 lead, but his fourth-quarter fumble and interception were backbreakers in a 27-17 loss. Still, he'll be the guy going forward. "To get him back was a huge boost for us. We'll continue to get better and build stuff around him to make him better and make our team better, and let other guys be playmakers," Moore said. "He prac- ticed really well — so did Orji — but you knew how good Jack was and the experi- ence that he has. So, I felt that would be the play, to put him in the game at some point. He just did a really good job and took advantage of the opportunity." OFFENSIVE LINE — C- We were thrown for a loop in the opener when sophomore Evan Link won the right MIDTERM GRADES Michigan Is 4-2 At The Halfway Mark And Still Searching For Answers At Several Positions