Davis Warren benched after 3-pick day against Arkansas State

Davis Warren didn’t throw an incomplete pass on Saturday. 

The senior quarterback went 11-for-14 for 122 yards, and the No. 17 Michigan football team comfortably beat Arkansas State, 28-18. The only problem for Warren was that the three passes not caught by Wolverines receivers were three brutal interceptions — each one worse than the last. 

After his third pick, Warren was benched for junior quarterback Alex Orji, reopening a quarterback controversy that Michigan had hoped it already put to rest.

“At the end of the day, they just got to take care of the football,” Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore said. “We can’t have those turnovers. We take a lot of pride in making sure we don’t do that. Usually, when we take care of the football, we win.”

While Warren can’t alone be blamed for all three interceptions, he didn’t help matters on any of them. 

On his first pick of the day, Warren and senior running back Donovan Edwards had a miscommunication on a play-action call. Warren attempted to hand the ball off to his left as Edwards stepped to his right. Then, Edwards missed his blocking assignment, collapsing the pocket in on Warren. Warren panicked and tried to force the ball to junior tight end Colston Loveland, where it was easily picked off by the Red Wolves. 

“I messed up on his first pick, and I told him that,” Edwards said. “I let him know in the locker room and on the field. It was a different look that they had brought, and we didn’t — it was basically all on me. I should have just went backside, took my man … It’s nothing on Dave, that’s a mistake that’s on me.”

Edwards wanted to take all the blame for himself, but Warren still failed to handle the added pressure effectively. His panicked throw resulted in a pick and gave Arkansas State an instant red-zone opportunity. 

A similar situation occurred on Warren’s second interception, when a missed block by sophomore right tackle Evan Link forced Warren to rush his progressions. Warren stepped up in the pocket to get the ball out quickly, but between the pressure and his arm getting brushed as he threw, his pass ended up in Red Wolves hands once again, nowhere near any of his receivers. 

And while external factors helped cause Warren’s first two picks, the last one was entirely on his poor decision making. More than halfway through the third quarter, Warren stepped up in the pocket to throw once more. He attempted to force the ball to sophomore wideout Semaj Morgan, but he sailed it three yards over Morgan’s head, again directly into the arms of a waiting Arkansas State defender. 

There were no possible excuses this time — Warren made a poor decision, and he executed his choice even worse.

“I’ve never played quarterback, but I can probably assume that if you get hit, it’s going to affect your throw,” Moore said. “… That’s why he stayed in the game. But just, the last one was an (errant) throw, so, had to make a change.”

Orji wasn’t perfect when he came in, but he threw one more touchdown and three less interceptions than Warren did. And despite the fact that Warren has 12 times as many passing attempts as Orji does this season, both players have two touchdown passes. Warren’s completion percentage is higher —  67% compared to 50% — but Saturday served as another example of his inability to take care of the football, with six picks in just three games. 

Moore didn’t share anything about who will start at quarterback for Michigan in the future, saying that it’ll be decided in practice, as it has been all along. But with his three interceptions, and subsequent benching, Warren reopened the door to the starting job — one that he had previously shut.

The post Davis Warren benched after 3-pick day against Arkansas State appeared first on The Michigan Daily.