The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Mavericks owner] Mark Cuban said, 'Work every day like there is someone trying to take your job, 24 hours per day.' And I want them to take that approach." RAY WEIGHS IN Former Wolverine Marcus Ray, an analyst for the Big Ten Network, knows it's a long stretch between now and Michigan's Sept. 3 showdown at Utah. He still has his ideas and im- pressions about the competition be- hind center. Ray has his eye on Speight. "When all this ends and shakes out, I think Wilton Speight is going to be the guy," Ray offered. "He can see over the line of scrimmage and he understands where to throw the foot- ball. That gives him an advantage. He doesn't have to duck and maneuver and move and try to find a little win- dow here and there, like some of the shorter quarterbacks." Of course, Speight has yet to throw a pass in college. He's been impres- sive in completing them in the early part of the QB competition, the former U-M safety noted. "Speight throws a pretty ball," Ray said. "He's throwing the football with a lot of touch. He gets on his toes well, and he stands and delivers. He doesn't over-play his stroke. He doesn't try to make throws that he can't make." Morris' accuracy has not been such that he's separated himself, in Ray's estimation. A strong arm only gets one so far, Ray noted, in concurrence with Fisch. "He's probably the most naturally talented, gifted guy … he just doesn't always show it," Ray said. "If you have a strong arm like Brett Farve and those guys, they make throws they shouldn't, because they can. "Sometimes it works, and some- times it doesn't. Or, they'll go for a deep ball and it's overthrown, when you could have checked it down and gotten five to seven yards. That's what Shane needs to improve on." Malzone looked strong early, and Harbaugh emphasized the meritoc- racy to which he often refers, Ray observed. "It seems like the way Harbaugh is letting this thing sort out is, whoever has the best practice previously is going to get the nod in the next prac- tice," Ray said. "Early on, Malzone was very efficient. He completed something like 11 of 13 balls without any turnovers. In the next practice, he was the guy that was in there. "He kept plays alive. He can run and make plays with his feet. He's mobile. The defense would commit and he'd drop it off to a guy — that helped, too." Head coach Jim Harbaugh on the competition at quarterback "At some point, you'd like to think that's clear-cut and that somebody earns that, and it's not close. That's what we'll be hoping for."