The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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and then he looked better in other games. That's not unusual for a guy to have better games than others. He was a first-year player at that time. "The guy is growing. He made a transition to a new program, and he's clearly motivated. He worked hard, and he's got all kinds of skills." Skene noted coaches are look- ing for someone with something to prove. Harbaugh found a quarter- back like that last year in Rudock, who had been supplanted as the starter at Iowa. Now, O'Korn might get his re- bound shot. "If he ran out of Houston because he wanted to get into an offense he felt more comfortable with, and Michigan's offense is it, then let's see it, man," Skene said. "I can't wait to see it. I want to see him light it up." Although Harbaugh stressed O'Korn wasn't running Michigan's offense last season, Skene noted there's certainly some carryover in playing the drop-back role of a Cook. Also, O'Korn got an up-close-and- personal look at one of the nation's better defenses. "He was practicing against the first- and second-string defense all year long," Skene said. "He's seen the best Michigan's got. There's a lot of value in that, for sure. "Now he's got to make the transi- tion into running Michigan's offense and using all that language. That's fine. He was still in all of those po- sitional meetings to talk about what was going on, listening to the offense and watching the film breakdowns. He roomed with Rudock, so there is a lot of sharing of experiences going on. Those are all good signs." SHANE MORRIS Redshirt junior Shane Morris found himself back and battling in the Florida sunshine during Mich- igan's opening spring practices at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. After Morris took a redshirt season during Harbaugh's first year in Ann Arbor, he resumed the chase for the No. 1 spot. "I'm surprised that he is around," Skene admitted. "I thought that he would transfer, honestly. I was hesi- tant to believe that whole story about him sitting out for a year, to save a year and redshirt in the middle of your four-year run. "When Wilton Speight was named the backup quarterback and came in, in that Minnesota game and played well enough to go win a football game, I thought, 'Man, Morris has got to transfer at this point.' But he didn't, and that's a credit to him. "He wants to win and succeed at Michigan, get a degree. Those are all good things. He should do that." The question now becomes: can the one-time prep five-star QB ac- complish those goals while rising to the top in Ann Arbor? He's had some chances, starting in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl as a true freshman for an injured Devin Gardner. Morris finished 24-of-38 passing in that game, throwing for 196 yards with one interception. He earned a start against Minne- sota the following season, complet- ing 7 of 19 attempts for 49 yards with