Michigan quarterback battle: Sherrone Moore opens competition, reaffirms playcaller

Michigan has not decided yet who will start at quarterback in Week 9 against Michigan State, per The Athletic‘s Austin Meek. However, head coach Sherrone Moore confirmed Kirk Campbell will continue to call plays for the Wolverines despite Michigan’s 21-7 loss to Illinois on Saturday.

Seventh-year senior QB Jack Tuttle made his first start of the season against the Fighting Illini after returning from a lingering elbow issue he suffered last year. In the loss, Tuttle completed 20-of-his-32 pass attempts for 208 yards. He recorded zero touchdowns but threw one interception and fumbled.

Moreover, Tuttle suffered five sacks. Michigan’s seven-point output was the program’s lowest since it suffered a shutout against Notre Dame in 2014. Tuttle is the third quarterback who Michigan has started this season, joining Davis Warren and Alex Orji.

Michigan never strayed from Tuttle against the Fighting Illini, allowing him to lead the offense the entire game. Nonetheless, frustrated fans are now demanding Michigan figures out its offensive woes, no matter who starts behind center.

Moore and offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell have received no shortage of criticism for the Wolverines’ lackluster offense this season. After Michigan’s loss on Saturday, CBS Sports analyst Brian Jones ripped the Wolverines’ coaching staff for the team’s underwhelming showing.

“That’s embarrassing,” Jones said of the Wolverines offense. “That’s an indictment of that coaching staff. You had two weeks to get ready for this football game, you’re on your third quarterback, and none of them know how to complete a forward pass.

“Are you kidding me? I would’ve put Davis Warren back in. At least he can get out of harm’s way. He’s athletic. Put [Alex] Orji in there. He can get out of harm’s way. Coach some zone-read or something. Obviously they don’t know how to coach any other type of offense there.”

Moore doesn’t deny that Michigan’s offense must improve. Following the loss, he addressed the future of the team’s offense.

“You can’t turn the ball over,” Moore said. “You don’t want to go to four quarterbacks. You don’t want to have to go through this process, but you got to take care of the football. We’re going to see what we got to do, and we’ll have that conversation as we go.

“Just overall offensively, it was not good enough at all,” Moore said. “Disappointing in a lot of areas. Jack can’t turn the ball over. When they’re open, we got to complete those passes.”

The Wolverines won’t have long to lick their wounds. On Saturday, Michigan will square off against Michigan State at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network.