The Michigan Wolverines offense has been completely and utterly miserable all season long, but Sherrone Moore's comments on Jack Tuttle suggest there might be some hope left for this year after all.
Michigan's offense still ranks outside the top 100 in yards per play, and total yards on the year. The only two passing offenses who have logged fewer passing yards this season are Army and Air Force, two schools who refuse to pass nearly at all. But! Jack Tuttle did give Michigan a much needed spark the last time the Maize and Blue were on the field.
Sherrone Moore shared in an interview Wednesday that Tuttle looks more than ready to right the ship as Michigan hopes to bounce back from their loss to Washington on October 5th:
"[Jack Tuttle]'s been so good. He looks way more comfortable. He's a guy that can operate at a high level and do all the things we ask him to do. So, feels good. Mentally [Tuttle] is in a good place. And he's ready to rock and roll."
It's great to hear that Jack Tuttle is looking far more comfortable after extended first team practice time, but let's just hope that translates to the field. Tuttle started off in his first action leading Michigan on three straight scoring drives against Washington (touchdown-field goal-touchdown), but then stalled out for much of the remainder of the game.
It's very likely that the amount of the team's offense that Michigan felt comfortable running with Tuttle at that point wasn't exactly the full play book, but that shouldn't be the case any longer.
Coach Moore continued on, sharing why he's so confident in Tuttle's ability to fix the offense this week against Illinois and moving forward:
"You've got a guy that's done it at a high level. Obviously here, being behind J.J. [McCarthy], but the times when you put him in games he's been successful and then before that at Indiana. He's had a track record of being a successful guy. He gave us that spark, that juice, and I thought that we moved the ball as good as we had throughout the year with him in the game. The confidence uplifted the whole offense. And not just the offense, but the whole team."
Saying that Jack Tuttle has "done it at a high level" at Michigan or Indiana is quite the stretch, considering he only ever threw five touchdowns to six interceptions with the Hoosiers. With Michigan he's still logged less than 40 pass attempts. However, fans and media only get to see so much at practice. It sounds like Tuttle has gained the confidence of the coaching staff and players, as Donovan Edwards confirmed just last week .
When asked about what he needs to see from the offense this week to confirm they're in a good spot and have the right quarterback moving forward Sherrone Moore kept it pretty simple:
"We've got to take care of the football...It's been something we've been harping on all year, but that's really the number one thing...If we don't turn the ball over our track record of winning games is pretty good...Start fast, and be complementary."
Beyond the much-needed spark that Tuttle needs to give Michigan this week, it really does just come down to limiting turnovers. Michigan is -4 in turnover margin thanks to their 12 turnovers on the year (tied for 115th worst). If Tuttle can simply take care of the ball and operate within the base structure of Michigan's passing offense the Wolverines should be a lot better and defeat Illinois with relative ease.
Related: Michigan RB Donovan Edwards not hiding his excitement on the QB change coming off Washington loss
We'll be back with more Michigan Wolverines coverage here at A to Z Sports all season long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
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