Sherrone Moore addresses benching Alex Orji, putting in Jack Tuttle

The Michigan Wolverines were in a desperate spot on the road against Washington on Saturday night, trailing 14-0 in the second quarter. And their head coach, Sherrone Moore, decided to make the move, shake things up, and bench quarterback Alex Orji. He decided to put in backup Jack Tuttle in the game to see if he could spark their offense. It quickly paid off, with Tuttle leading the Wolverines on back-to-back scoring drives near the end of the first half to close the gap to 14-10 at the break.

At halftime, the NBC sideline reporter updated everyone on why Moore decided to make the move and go with Tuttle the rest of the game.

“Back-to-back scoring drives by Jack Tuttle to end the first half. I just asked Sherrone Moore why he decided to make that switch ultimately at quarterback. He said it was simple, we needed a little bit of a boost. And he provided that energy. He provided that spark. He practiced well all week. He’s been healthy,” the NBC sideline reporter explained.

When did he know that Tuttle would be ready to play against Washington? “We’ve known for a few weeks now, but it was finally the time to put him into the game,” the NBC broadcast relayed from Sherrone Moore.

In his limited action he saw in the first half, Tuttle completed 3 of 4 passes for 26 yards. As a runner, he had two carries for 14 yards. The Michigan offensive attack seemed to move much more effectively with Tuttle in the game in the first half.

Orji handled the benching well, giving Jack Tuttle a hug before he came into the game, according to Jason Avant. Tuttle has seen limited reps over the years for Michigan, so Saturday isn’t his first taste of action for the maize and blue. In 2023, he completed 15 of 17 passes for 130 passing yards, while tossing in one touchdown. As a runner, he had four carries for 35 yards.

Tuttle has a career stat line of 1,031 yards, six touchdowns, six interceptions and a 59.8% completion percentage across 21 game appearances. He spent four years at Indiana before transferring to Michigan prior to the 2023 season. Tuttle also started his career at Utah prior to the Hoosiers.

As a member of the Class of 2018, Tuttle was a four-star recruit out of San Marcos (Calif.) Mission Hills, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 25 overall prospect in the state, the No. 14 quarterback in the class and the No. 163 overall prospect in the class.

On3’s Nick Kosko also contributed to this article.