Senior quarterback Davis Warren took the opening snap. Junior quarterback Alex Orji mixed in on designed runs. Warren found comfort in junior tight end Colston Loveland, and didn’t turn the ball over. Orji found room to run, supported by the threat of senior running back Donovan Edwards and graduate running back Kalel Mullings.
That was the formula for success for the Michigan football team’s offense in Week 9 against Michigan State. It was also the intended formula for success all the way back in Week 1, when Warren was named the Wolverines’ starting quarterback for the first time.
Of course, it didn’t work as well back then, leading to a quarterback carousel that spun all the way around before landing on Warren once again. But now that Michigan has arrived back at its original plan, it needs to avoid deviating again.
None of the Wolverines’ three quarterbacks is enough of a game changer to single-handedly invigorate their offense, so the best thing they can do now is stick with Warren. After the coaching staff spent seven games flipping back and forth trying to find a solution, the best remaining option Michigan has is to let Warren work through the kinks, finally giving the offense a chance to gel around one constant starter.
At least for now, Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore knows that much.
“I mean, never going to look back and have regrets,” Moore said postgame Saturday. “I think we made those right decisions at that time, and we came back to this decision now and feel really good about (Warren) and what he’s done to this point.
Moore, for once, is spot on in his description of Michigan’s quarterbacks. While the outcome of each quarterback switch was regrettable for the Wolverines, the decisions themselves were defensible.
Warren threw three picks against lowly Arkansas State, and three more in two games prior to that. Moore had every right to bench him, and Orji at least gave the offense a different look. But that look was entirely one-dimensional, and led to a feeble offense that could barely pick up a first down by Orji’s third start. So again, Moore had every right to bench him and turn to graduate quarterback Jack Tuttle. Tuttle faced turnover troubles just like Warren, though, and combined with his re-injury, he had to go too.
As bad as each of those quarterbacks looked as starters the first time — and as bad as it made Michigan’s coaching staff look — no single choice was unprovoked. Sure, in hindsight, it may have made sense to stick with Warren and let him figure it out, but hindsight is 20-20. To say that it was a bad decision to bench Warren after his game against Arkansas State would be revisionist history.
Now, though, Moore and the Wolverines get the chance to prevent history from repeating itself.
Warren isn’t likely to take a massive leap forward compared to his first stint as starter, but he at least showed an ability to take care of the ball on Saturday. All week, Moore placed immense weight on turnovers as the root of Michigan’s problems, so finally getting through a game without coughing the ball up effectively made the decision of next week’s starter for him.
“When everyone’s pulling in the same direction, you can do good stuff,” Warren said of the offense finally working as originally intended. “… It feels really good.”
Whether it was Warren himself, something coming from the coaching staff or the added motivation of a rivalry game, the Wolverines finally all pulled in the right direction. Save for a stagnant first quarter, they finally put together a complete offensive game.
And even when it isn’t that simple, or even if Warren starts giving the ball away again, Moore needs to stick with him. Michigan knows what it has in Tuttle and Orji, and it isn’t noticeably better than Warren’s worst days. The Wolverines aren’t going to upgrade at the position by flip-flopping any further, so they have to marginally upgrade simply by giving Warren more experience.
At this point, it just comes down to one straightforward fact: Michigan’s quarterback situation cannot get any worse, so the only thing left to do is give it a chance to develop and get better.
The Wolverines’ quarterback carousel has spun around and around too many times already, and all that has done is left everyone around the program feeling sick. Now that it’s landed on Warren for the second time, even if things start to go south again, it’s time to just stick to the original plan.
The post SportsMonday: Michigan’s offense is back to square one, and it needs to stay there appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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