Rushing attack shines, quarterback questions persist in Michigan’s 28-18 win over Arkansas State

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WLNS) – The Michigan Wolverines wrapped up non-conference play with a 28-18 victory over Arkansas State on Saturday afternoon. The Wolverine offense ran for over 300 yards but the passing game again struggled, and starting quarterback Davis Warren was benched in favor of Alex Orji in the third quarter.

Running back Kalel Mullings has been having a breakout season through the first three games and Saturday’s victory was his best performance yet. Mullings ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Donovan Edwards chipped in 82 yards on 17 carries as the Michigan offense finished with a total of 301 rushing yards on 44 attempts.

Warren was benched after his third interception of the game in the third quarter. However, those three interceptions were the only three passes Warren did not complete. He finished 11-for-14 for 122 yards through the air.

Upon entering the game, Orji led the Wolverine offense on a nine-play scoring drive. He threw just one pass in the series, completing it for a nine-yard touchdown to tight end Hogan Hansen.

In three offensive drives, Orji was just 2-for-4 passing for 12 yards. He also ran for 27 yards on three attempts.

Sherrone Moore indicated after the game the starting quarterback job will be up for grabs in practice this week.

“I mean, you just can’t have [the turnovers],” said Moore. “Put the ball in harm’s way too many times so we made a change and we’ll continue to practice and see where we’ll go from there.”

“[It] was not great stuff to put on film and yeah, I was surprised,” he later added about the interceptions. “It’s football though, that stuff’s going to happen and we had to make a change.”

Edwards, Mullings and offensive lineman Josh Priebe all reiterated in their postgame media sessions the offense has confidence in all the team’s options at quarterback and is ready to embrace whoever the coaches put back there.

“So much of the game is controlling what you can control and whoever the coaches decide to put out there, we’re going to roll with that guy, that’s our teammate and that’s our brother,” said Priebe.

Making matters worse for the Michigan passing game, star tight end Colston Loveland left Saturday’s game with an injury. He made a catch late in the second quarter and immediately motioned for a substitute to come on. He returned for the start of the third quarter and made another catch on the first play, but left the field again after the play and went up the tunnel. When he returned to the Michigan sideline he was no longer wearing pads.

Moore did not have much of an update on Loveland after the game, saying doctors needed to evaluate him further before a status update could be provided.

Michigan dives into Big Ten play next week with a big test against No. 11 USC. It will be a home game for the Wolverines with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. E.T.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.