Just go away already, Red Wolves. I just wanted Arkansas State to quit. Michigan kept gashing them in the run game. Michigan kept stuffing their run game. And yet . . . Arkansas State wouldn’t quit. It was 28-3. And then it was 28-10. And then it was 28-18 after a touchdown and a two-point conversion against Michigan’s third- and fourth-stringers. So the final was closer than it should have been, because Michigan was trying to get its top players a rest going into the USC game next week. Those two teams are not just a 10-point differential away from each other. But the situation will be forgotten shortly and people will just look at the score. Good for Arkansas State for not quitting, but I wish they would have.
Hit the jump for more.
So . . . ummm . . . about Michigan’s QB room. I don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said. Every single one of Davis Warren’s 14 passes was caught. Michigan caught 11 of them . . . and Arkansas State caught 3. Warren looks okay at times, but his bad throws are really bad. Ultimately, you’re judged by how many games you win and how many points you score, and Warren isn’t scoring a ton of points. His 2-1 record is decent so far, but victories are going to be hard to come by unless he improves. (And there’s obviously a question about whether he even keeps the job moving forward.) He finished 11/14 for 122 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions; and he ran 4 times for 6 yards, including a nice 13-yard scramble.
What are the other options?
Here are my TTB Ratings for #Michigan's currently rostered QBs:
— Touch the Banner 〽️ (@TouchTheBanner) September 14, 2024
Jadyn Davis – 68
Jayden Denegal – 61
Alex Orji – 55
Jack Tuttle – N/A (transfer)
Davis Warren – N/A (walk-on)
I'm not always right, but I never had much faith in this group to produce a solid starter. I fully…
As mentioned above, I’ve missed before on QBs (Joe Milton, Shane Morris, etc.), but I don’t have high expectations for the quarterbacks currently on the roster. I actually thought Warren was a steal for a walk-on, and I think that has been proven to be accurate. I didn’t think he would ever be a starter, but if he was the mop-up guy as the #2 or #3 quarterback, I don’t think anyone would be too upset. He was never supposed to be The Man. But you can see with the way Warren and Orji “command” the huddle that neither one is ready. The personnel look confused, Warren looks confused, Orji seems disconnected, there’s just no field general. Reps and experience might fix this, but that takes time that Michigan doesn’t have. Meanwhile, Alex Orji went 2/4 for 12 yards and 1 touchdown in clean-up duty after Warren threw his third pick. He badly overthrew speedster Fredrick Moore, had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage, and completed a short arrow route to Hogan Hansen for an easy touchdown.
Is the offensive line starting to gel? Michigan no doubt made some improvements in the run game on Saturday, even if it was against an inferior opponent. I believe the Red Wolves were better on the defensive line than the offensive line – especially end Jayden Jones, who I thought looked tough – but Michigan was gashing them in the run game. The Wolverines unveiled Andrew Gentry as the extra offensive lineman, and he played 14 snaps lined up in the “tight end” position. If Michigan wants to play bully ball, I think it’s necessary for them to use Gentry – or another tackle – to create unbalanced lines and get some extra beef. It’s probably not a coincidence that Michigan’s running game took off – albeit against an inferior opponent – when the Wolverines started adding beef and different personnel packages.
Running back controversy update. Kalel Mullings had 15 carries for 153 yards (10.1 yards/attempt) and 1 touchdown, including three 30+ yard runs. Donovan Edwards had more carries (17) but significantly fewer yards (82), though he still had a decent overall game in the running department (4.8 yards/carry, 1 TD). I thought Edwards started to run a little bit harder after he saw Mullings break tackles on his way to a 31-yard touchdown, so maybe Edwards is feeling the heat a little bit. I think it’s pretty obvious that Mullings has better vision and a better overall feel for finding holes and making defenders miss, but if competition brings out the best in Edwards, that’s a good thing. If Michigan wants to play its best, it needs to have both guys playing well.
Speaking of Edwards, I think he made some big gaffes. Looking back at a couple “bad plays by Warren,” I think Edwards made some mental mistakes with play fakes and pass blocking. On Warren’s first interception, he faked a power out of the pistol by opening to his left for the play fake . . . except Edwards went to the right. Michigan does run power using those same mechanics, so I think Edwards went to the wrong side. Then Michigan had a pass protection where they ran a “full slide” protection to the right, and if that was indeed the scheme, the back needs to step to the left. Warren opened to his left for a play fake, but Edwards went right, leaving a completely unprotected left edge. We can be critical of the quarterback position, and I think that’s fair. But the coaches and other players need to be accountable for their roles in helping the quarterback be successful. If a senior running back is going the wrong way on fakes/protections, that’s pretty inexcusable. In my experience as a coach, the QB is right on those things about 90% of the time. I do think sometimes things are moving too fast for Warren, but I would be pretty surprised if he made errors on both of those plays . . . and in fact, both of them look to me like they’re protection busts by Edwards. (For what it’s worth, Edwards got a 9.6 grade from PFF in pass blocking, so I think they agree with me.)
Let’s hope Colston Loveland is okay. It looked like star tight end Colston Loveland injured his shoulder (separation, stinger, etc.) on his second catch of the day. He did come back for another reception, but he immediately left the game again after being tackled. He finished the game with 3 catches for 30 yards. Number two tight end Marlin Klein (3 catches, 43 yards) ended up as the team’s receiving yardage leader, which tells us a lot about the QB production and the explosiveness of the receivers. Loveland is perhaps Michigan’s most important offensive player, so if he misses time against USC or down the road, that’s very bad news for the Wolverines.
The ceiling is low. If we’re being honest, this team looks like it might struggle to be bowl eligible. They’ve struggled a little bit with both Fresno State and Arkansas State, and they looked totally overmatched against Texas. They will be underdogs next week against USC, and it doesn’t get a whole lot easier down the stretch, with games against Washington, Oregon, and Ohio State. I do think the running game took a step forward, and the starting defense was solid. But there are zero explosive plays in the passing game, and there are way too many turnovers.
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