The Michigan Wolverines managed to throw the football just 12 times for 32 yards and zero passing touchdowns last week against USC, but they still came away with the victory. Through four weeks the quarterback play for Michigan has been absolutely atrocious, and it's likely the Wolverines will need to make some major adjustments bringing more balance to their offense if they want to have any hope at several more victories this season.
When asked about Alex Orji, and the offensive balance moving forward Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore answered like an offensive line coach, defending his quarterback and addressing how they have won with physicality in the past as well.
"I think for us, I think we've shown that, whether it was last week or in year's past that there's going to be a couple games like that a year that we need to run the ball more to win the game. And all we're worried about is winning. Alex [Orji] has the ability to pass the ball. He has the ability to throw it down the field. Those throws he made in the game, we thought--especially the competitive ones--were ones that either our guy could make or nobody. Thought he did a good job taking care of the football. But there's definitely things we'll do to keep the balance as we move forward."
This is the second time under Sherrone Moore's head coaching duties (the last was as interim with Jim Harbaugh suspended) that Michigan has almost exclusively run for an entire game and came out on top. The Wolverines famously didn't log an official pass attempt in the second half of last year's Penn State game, but still found a way to win 24-15. This time they edged out USC 27-24.
Moore clearly wants to see more "balance as [Michigan] moves forward", but it's clear they're confident in their ability to win with the run. What was surprising about Moore's quotes is that he actually claimed Alex Orji "has the ability to pass the ball", and make throws down the field. That certainly hasn't been proven in live game action yet, but it will be the one big thing to monitor in coming weeks that will likely define the remainder of the 2024 college football season for Michigan.
Related: Michigan wins despite horrific QB play as Sherrone Moore may have key decision to make following USC game
Moore went on to describe what they'll likely do on offense to make sure Alex Orji can best utilize his skills and continue stacking wins for Michigan:
"I think we'll give him some early throws and different things to make him feel comfortable. You know we did that last week a little bit, throwing a quick screen to Semaj [Morgan], but there's other ways we can distribute the ball to our tight ends, receivers, backs to get them involved in the passing game. But ultimately we're going to do whatever we need to do to win. Whether that's throwing it as many times as we need to or running, whatever we've got to do to win we're going to do."
It might be nice to try and create some easy throws for Orji early this week as they face off against Minnesota, but that strategy will only get them so far. As teams continue to key in on the simple underneath throws that Michigan tries to build in for Orji he's going to have to prove that he can beat teams over the top in key spots. The team won't be able to consistently count on Kalel Mullings to average nine yards per carry with a handful of broken tackles on a 60+ yard run late in the game to save them.
It's good to hear that Moore is looking to add some more balance to Michigan's approach. Michigan fans just need to hope that Orji can flip a switch here soon and improve as a passer. Otherwise, things might get ugly for the Maize and Blue sooner than later.
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