Michigan football leads to a QB change

SEATTLE – Michigan football has made another quarterback change.

The Wolverines were trailing Washington 14-0 early in the second quarter at Husky Stadium on Saturday (follow live game updates) when head coach Sherrone Moore opted to sub Alex Orji in favor of seventh-grader Jack Tuttle. Tuttle was long considered a safety valve for the Wolverines if they had to go that route, but injuries in the spring and summer threw Tuttle back into contention.

Instead, it was a two-man race between Davis Warren and Orji, which Warren ultimately won. However, this was short-lived as he threw six interceptions in the first three games and the coaches substituted him for Orji.

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Tuttle came into the game and led the Wolverines on a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown run that ended with a 39-yard touchdown run by Donovan Edwards. Tuttle completed one pass for five yards on possession and ran twice for 14 yards.

Tuttle’s second possession covered 56 yards in eight plays and ended with a 45-yard field goal by Dominic Zvada to cut the deficit to 14-10 late in the half. Tuttle was 3-for-4 with 26 yards passing at halftime.

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After halftime, NBC sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen said Moore told her he switched to Tuttle to give the offense a spark.

“(Moore said) we needed a little spark and he provided that energy, he provided that spark. He trained well all week, he was healthy,” Tappen said on the television broadcast, paraphrasing what Moore had told her. “We’ve known (that Tuttle was healthy) for a few weeks, but we decided now was the time to use him.”

Tuttle opened the third quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Colston Loveland on a scramble right, giving Michigan 17 straight points and a 17-14 lead.

The Orji experiment appears to have ended after he failed to mount any kind of temporary offensive. Orji went 7 of 12 for 32 yards in his first career start, a 27-24 win over USC. Last week he was 10 of 18 for 86 yards with a touchdown and an interception as UM beat Minnesota 27-24.

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But on Saturday in Seattle something broke. Orji completed his first three passes for 15 yards, but then threw four straight incomplete passes, including two batted passes at the line of scrimmage. The best of the three drives was the first, which went 8 plays and 31 yards, before a three-and-out and then a 5-play drive went just 14 yards.

The Huskies took advantage of the short possession, scoring twice on their first four drives to put UM on its heels.

Tuttle came into play and UM finally found life.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @RealTonyGarcia.

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