The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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62 THE WOLVERINE ❱ DECEMBER 2024 N o team plans to start three quar- terbacks in a season. Something has to go wrong, whether due to injury, performance or otherwise, for that to occur. It's been a challenging campaign at the position and for the team overall, but the Wolverines aren't fractured, and that's quite impressive. The quarterbacks have set the tone in that regard, and that was apparent when junior Alex Orji said this summer that he didn't "commit to being the starter — I committed here to support the University of Michigan, try to give us the best chance to win and do whatever I can to add value to the team." Senior Davis Warren, who opened the first three tilts, got his starting job back for an Oct. 26 win over Michigan State, after Orji (3 starts) and graduate student Jack Tuttle (1) each had their turn. This season has gone south, but it really would've taken a turn for the worst had the Maize and Blue not beaten the Spar- tans for a third consecutive season. War- ren, a former walk-on, was a large part of the reason why the Wolverines kept the Paul Bunyan Trophy in Ann Arbor. Warren, a leukemia survivor who saw his senior high school campaign canceled due to COVID, is no stranger to over- coming adversity. It shouldn't be a sur- prise that he kept his head up after getting benched following the nonconference slate, but it's still impressive, perhaps uncommon. The notes in his iPad were just as full while serving as backup as they were while he was the starter, and he put in the extra work regardless of whether or not he was first or third string. He even came into the building during off hours to walk through plays he didn't get to rep in practice — all by himself, even without head coach Sherrone Moore knowing. "Same guy. Same guy every day," se- nior wide receiver Joe Taylor, Warren's housemate, said of the quarterback's ap- proach. "Davis didn't flinch at all, and was able to keep the same mindset that he had and know that his time could come back. … Great mindset, great dude, great leader." The 24-17 victory over MSU was re- demption for Warren, who threw a touchdown pass and completed 13 of his 19 throws. But he was just as happy for Orji when he rushed in a score as he was when he threw his. "There's no bad blood at all," Taylor revealed. "They're friends, teammates, everything. When we were going through Davis and Orji [competing], Alex was over at our house hanging out. They're happy for each other's success, regard- less of who's starting." Warren came back and threw 2 touch- down passes on third-and-goal against No. 1 Oregon, but the Wolverines came up short. He was pressured on 61.8 per- cent of his drop-backs and struggled with a 50 percent completion rate in a setback to Indiana. It's hard to bet against Warren having a resurgence at some point, though, and the experience he's gaining as the starter — while being Michigan's best chance to win — is valuable. "Y'all better stop counting him out. He's shown time and time again that he overcomes adversity in his personal life and in the football world," senior running back Donovan Edwards said. FAR FROM A FINISHED PRODUCT It was refreshing that, on the morning after Michigan basketball lost 72-70 to Wake Forest, head coach Dusty May sat down at his press conference and seemed eager to talk about his team's shortcom- ings — what they could've done better and how they'll work to make the cor- rections. He's not shying away from the fact that the Wolverines — who were a bit clunky on offense, missed some open shots, turned the ball over 16 times and allowed 11 offensive rebounds — still have a ways to go. "We don't know our team well enough, and our team doesn't know us well enough," May said. "When I say 'well enough' — I mean to compete at a cham- pionship level right now." Championships aren't won in Novem- ber, though, so there's no reason to panic after one loss. But it's never too early to start making fixes and continuing to hone in on the details. Michigan has a two- word phrase — "April Habits" — on the wall in its new locker room, a constant reminder that what they're doing now, even in November, can contribute to ac- complishing the big, obvious goals they have for the end of the season. "It just means in October, Septem- ber, November whatever the case, you're practicing and are doing it with the inten- tion that these habits are going to be car- ried at a championship level until the last weekend of basketball," May explained. "We have no idea what our ceiling is right now. You have to develop championship- level habits today, first-place habits today and first-place habits tomorrow. … We've got to have some things ingrained into us that we don't even have to think about. We're just playing off instinct, and hope- fully we're moving in that direction right now." ❏ SAYFIE BLITZ ❱ CLAYTON SAYFIE Redemption For Davis Warren Warren completed 13 of 19 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown in the 24-17 win against Michigan State, helping U-M retain the Paul Bunyan Trophy for the third straight year. 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.