Donovan Edwards spent plenty of time praising his teammates in his press conference after beating the Michigan State football team. But the senior running back also spent plenty of time cheekily praising himself.
Throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Colston Loveland in the fourth quarter, Edwards improved his career passing record to 4-for-4 with two passing touchdowns. When asked about the trick play, he first emphasized what an honor it was for his coaches to trust him throwing the ball. Then he paused, smiled and added one last quip:
“Dono has a perfect QBR rating.”
Edwards’ joking nature about his throw was exactly what Michigan coach Sherrone Moore hoped to elicit by drawing up trick plays.
“These guys are kids, so when you introduce a trick play, they all smile, they all get happy, and especially this one over here, you can see the grin on his face,” Moore said, gesturing at a grinning Edwards beside him. “It was just to change it up, give them some variation, and it also makes people work at something. And that’s what we want to be able to do because we’ve got a lot of them in the bag.”
In a rivalry win over the Spartans, the Wolverines effectively implemented a variety of trick plays. Not only did the trickery give Edwards and company something to smile about, it dramatically opened up the offense.
Five plays into the second half, Michigan dialed up a flea flicker. Senior quarterback Davis Warren handed the ball off to graduate running back Kalel Mullings, who quickly pitched it back to Warren. Warren had plenty of time in a clean pocket, so he planted his feet and delivered a 23-yard dart to senior wide receiver Tyler Morris at the sideline.
On the very next play, the Wolverines lined up without a quarterback under center. Junior quarterback Alex Orji was on the field, but he was set up out wide in the backfield. Sophomore receiver Semaj Morgan jogged over from his position in the slot and took the snap, faking a handoff to Orji before running the ball 7 yards up the field himself. A few plays later, Orji punched the ball into the end zone, a score set up by the success of Michigan’s trick plays.
“We had some in the hopper, for sure,” Loveland said of the Wolverines’ trick play calls. “Games like these, anything could get called. I knew we had them for sure, and knew in a crucial time, if we need to get it off the sheet, we get it off the sheet.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Edwards’ quarterback moment made it off the sheet. Warren pitched the ball back to Edwards, and running toward the sideline, Edwards cocked his arm and tossed a dime to Loveland, who easily stepped into the end zone.
“The safeties, they trigger very hard, and they’re tremendous athletes, tremendous players — same thing with their whole entire defense,” Edwards said. “It’s just something that we were comfortable calling in that situation, and I’m glad that we got that off the call sheet.”
Making the most memorable play of the game, Edwards made sure to rub it in. He lapped up the attention as a reporter jokingly compared him to Tom Brady — with Moore smiling and shaking his head, repating “don’t start, don’t start” as Edwards basked in his glory. He perked up when Warren said “all of us quarterbacks,” prompting Warren to laughingly include him in the group.
And for all of Edwards’ joking remarks, his self-praise held a real sentiment that his perfectly executed pass sealed the game for the Wolverines. It was a culmination of a night of trickery that breathed new life into Michigan’s offense — and brought back the Wolverines’ smiles.
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