Week in and week out, Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore has stressed that vital game-time decisions — especially regarding starting spots — hinge on each player’s performance in practice.
“We’ll see as we practice this week,” Moore said Monday about his plan for the quarterback position, a phrase that has become commonplace at his weekly interviews with the media.
Practice isn’t open to the public, of course, but how the Wolverines talk about their play during the week and how it shows up on Saturday doesn’t add up. While it’s nearly impossible to fully diagnose execution issues, it’s become crystal clear that Michigan’s performance in practice isn’t translating when it counts — especially in the passing game.
“There’s times in practice when we look real good,” junior wide receiver Tyler Morris said Tuesday. “And we just got to apply more of that to the game. We’re messing up small details that we were good with all week in practice.”
Through seven games, the Wolverines have amassed just 898 yards through the air. Their opponents have combined for nearly double that number.
Junior tight end Colston Loveland leads Michigan’s pass catchers with 344 total receiving yards, significantly ahead of sophomore wide receiver Semaj Morgan, whose 106 total yards are good for second-most on the team. Even worse, senior quarterback Davis Warren still leads the Wolverines with 444 total passing yards — and he hasn’t played a snap since the Arkansas State game in Week 3.
Suffice to say, Michigan’s passing game has not reflected what the Wolverines claim to see in practice.
“I think it just comes with calming down a little bit during the games and just going out and executing,” Morris said. “That’s really all I see, because we have more than enough time during the week to get things right. There’s been times where we’ve executed all week, and then there’s just been something off during the game.”
Alongside Michigan’s inept passing game, one of the Wolverines’ biggest detriments this season has been turnovers — most of those coming from the quarterback. Warren was benched following a three-interception performance against the Red Wolves, and Moore wouldn’t officially name a starter this week after graduate quarterback Jack Tuttle coughed up the ball twice against Illinois.
Moore continues to reiterate that he and his staff will make their decision based on how everyone plays in practice. But Moore also explained that he’s seeing significantly better ball protection from his quarterbacks during the week than what they’ve shown through seven Saturdays.
“I feel like they’re protecting it way better in practice, and it’s just not translating to the game,” Moore said. “So we have to figure out, as coaches, as a team, how to translate all that stuff to a game. There’s things that you’re doing in practice that have to replicate, like they have before, in the game. For us as coaches, whether that’s simplifying, doing things less so we can be better at those things, especially on offense, that’s what we’ll work toward.”
And as Michigan struggles to find the same success on game days as it does in practice, Moore is quickly running out of new players to turn to when it really matters. How can the Wolverines accurately evaluate potential starters based on their performance in practice if that performance doesn’t translate to games?
It’s a question Moore and Michigan have yet to answer, and whether or not they can finally figure it out might be the key to the rest of their season.
The post Michigan struggling to translate practice performance to games, complicating personnel decisions appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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