Jack Tuttle provides a spark then extinguishes it with costly turnovers in loss to Washington

SEATTLE — All eyes were on Jack Tuttle.

Facing a 14-0 deficit against Washington early in the second quarter, the No. 10 Michigan football team needed an answer, a spark, anything to keep itself from spiraling toward a blowout loss to the unranked Huskies. So Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore benched junior quarterback Alex Orji and called on Tuttle, a seventh-year quarterback who was sidelined with an injury to his throwing arm until last week.

“Before he went in the game, he told everybody, he was like, ‘Listen to me, look at me,’ ” senior running back Donovan Edwards said, opening his eyes wide to demonstrate how the team looked at Tuttle. “Everybody just like, gave all their eyes to him. He has great leadership abilities and capabilities, so I’m grateful that he got out there and was able to show what he can do.”

The third quarterback Michigan has trotted out this season, Tuttle showed the best and worst of what he can do, throwing for 98 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

On his first drive, Tuttle marched the Wolverines down the field. He only threw one pass, a 5-yard completion to senior fullback Max Bredeson, but he forced the Huskies to account for his arm — a wrinkle they didn’t have to take as seriously with Orji under center. 

The threat of Tuttle’s arm opened up rushing lanes all over the field. Graduate running back Kalel Mullings picked up 8 yards on two carries. Tuttle himself ran for 14 yards on two carries. And Edwards put the icing on the cake with a 39-yard touchdown run, cutting Michigan’s deficit in half.

For a while, the Wolverines sustained that momentum. Tuttle piloted a decent drive that ended in a field goal before halftime. Coming out of the break, Tuttle really took the reins, skillfully progressing through his reads to make timely throws. Facing a third-and-10, he kept the drive alive by finding junior receiver Amorion Walker for a 22-yard gain. A few plays later, he escaped a rapidly collapsing pocket and hit a wide open Loveland for an 8-yard touchdown to claim Michigan’s first lead of the game.

“I thought he came out and gave us a spark early,” Moore said. “Obviously, three straight drives, we had a touchdown, field goal, touchdown, so I think the players fed off of that.”

The Wolverines fed off of Tuttle’s spark, so when he fed the ball straight into Washington’s clutches, they sputtered out.

Facing a tied game in the fourth quarter, Tuttle rushed up the middle and promptly fumbled the ball at his own 32-yard line. One 27-yard rush later, the Huskies were knocking on the door, and they punched the ball into the end zone a few plays later to retake the lead. 

With 6:22 left to go, Tuttle and Michigan were running out of time. And then Tuttle put the ball in Washington’s hands once again, thereby putting the game out of reach for the Wolverines. Tuttle’s interception led to a Huskies field goal and an insurmountable two-score deficit.

“In the fourth quarter, those two turnovers were huge,” Moore said. “They got 10 points off of them, so we got to do a better job taking care of football in all aspects. Jack’s going to beat himself up about that, but we can’t let him do that. We got to uplift him, and as a team, take care of him.”

With Tuttle likely being Michigan’s starter moving forward, Michigan will have plenty more opportunities to uplift him and feed off of his spark. The Wolverines got to do that for three drives on Saturday, until Tuttle’s mistakes shot them in the foot.

All eyes were on Tuttle when he addressed his teammates before entering the game. All eyes were on Tuttle when he drove Michigan’s offense down the field for three straight scoring drives. And all eyes were on Tuttle when he committed two turnovers and sealed the Wolverines’ loss

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