by Charlie PappalardoSeptember 1, 2024
Just minutes before the No. 9 Michigan football team took to the field on Saturday, months of speculation was finally brought to a close. After endless conversation about the quarterback battle that lasted through to the bitter end of training camp, it was revealed that senior quarterback Davis Warren had won the job, and would lead the Wolverines out onto the field.
After surviving cancer five years ago, walking onto the Michigan football team three years ago and spending the next three years on the bench behind Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy, Warren’s moment had finally arrived.
“Ultimately, he won the job,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said postgame. “He was just consistent, took care of the football, made plays against (our) defense that you saw out there. … But he ultimately took the job and won it.”
Funnily enough however, after just four plays, it was junior quarterback Alex Orji who threw Michigan’s first touchdown.
Adding Orji into the mix on that first drive was a confusing wrinkle that worked well enough to fool Fresno State . But more broadly, it was indicative of the way Michigan coach Sherrone Moore operated the Wolverines’ offense the entire night — and presumably how he will lead them throughout the season.
All night on Saturday, Warren was firmly the starter. Warren threw the ball. Warren operated the offense. And the fate of the Wolverines’ passing game rested firmly in his hands.
But that didn’t stop Moore from bringing Orji into the fold.
And with Warren up and down throughout the night and Orji’s play adding some depth, the strategy worked well enough for Michigan to secure the win — but not well enough to assuage fears.
Warren looked confident for the most part, managing a decent 60% completion rate with a touchdown. But with only 118 yards and a pick on a pass into triple coverage, the passing game was not a motor for the offense.
“Obviously there were some moments where we struggled to get the ball moving and do some things on third downs,” Warren said. “That falls on me as a quarterback to make sure we’re in the right play and doing the right thing. But we can’t leave ourselves in third and long, we gotta keep the chains moving, and that falls on all of us.”
Throughout the game, the Wolverines’ passing attack lacked spark. Even Alex Orji, in his sparse usage, struggled to give them what they were looking for.
On almost every offensive drive, Moore found moments to sprinkle Orji into the mix. Using him as a run-decoy worked on the first offensive drive, with Michigan finding the end zone as Orji hit a wide open target for a 3-yard touchdown. But after that, Orji’s usage didn’t find nearly as much success.
He found some success on the ground with five carries for 32 yards. However, with his only other throw, Orji badly missed a wide open receiver in the flat, throwing the ball into the ground yards in front of him.
And with Warren finding rhythm on some drives and lacking it at others, the addition of Orji didn’t always enhance the Wolverines’ offense. Warren insisted that splitting reps didn’t bother him, though.
“It’s no different than in practice,” Warren said. “In practice the ones are going, and then the twos are going, and then the ones are going again … it’s no different than that. I’ve got no issue doing that.”
And so all night, Warren led the offense while Orji jumped in for a play or two. And all night, the Wolverines found only moderate success. After the first drive, Michigan went eight drives without a touchdown, and while the stagnation was not all on Warren and the passing game, neither he nor Orji did much to make it stand out.
Warren consistently found success connecting with junior tight end Colston Loveland. As the game wore on and Warren developed more confidence, he threw more and more to Loveland, who amassed 87 yards, eight receptions and a touchdown.
“If they’re gonna leave (Loveland) open, we’re gonna throw him the ball, it’s pretty simple,” Warren said. “And we’re gonna keep doing that, and then other guys … are going to step up and make plays too.”
As the night closed, it was apparent that the quarterback battle is fully solved.
The Wolverines produced an answer at quarterback against the Bulldogs, and Warren did enough to show why they arrived at that answer on Saturday. But with only 121 yards total in an inconsistent passing attack, there wasn’t enough to demonstrate that their answer can take them far.