Sherrone Moore defends Davis Warren after struggles on third down vs. Oregon

Michigan punted on four of its first five drives during the first half of a 38-17 loss to top-ranked Oregon last weekend. Three of those four punts came on three-and-outs.

Wolverines quarterback Davis Warren, who started the first three games of the season and now the last two Michigan outings, took the blame for his team’s early-game hiccups versus the Ducks.

“That falls on me as a quarterback,” Warren said postgame. “I got to be better on third downs, gotta be able to convert. Third down’s a money down. And we talked about it all week and didn’t take advantage of those opportunities when we had them, and that falls on me to be better.

“I think getting that first third down and picking those up and getting those things rolling, then we would have rolled and been able to go. So that falls on me, the quarterback, to just be better on that down. Definitely something I’ll be looking to work on.”

But as soon as Warren said that, junior wide receiver Tyler Morris, also at the podium, chimed in.

“I want to say it isn’t just on Davis,” Morris said. “I think there’s a lot of things we could have did as an offense, just as a whole, just little details and just the smaller things that everybody needs to fix. But it’s something we definitely need to get fixed because we only got a certain amount of time to play a game, so we can’t come out just wasting time and giving the ball back.”

This week, Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore echoed the sentiment Morris shared after the 21-point defeat in The Big House.

After all, while Michigan was 4-of-12 on third down, the Wolverines’ average third down distance against the Ducks was 8.2 yards. Warren faced a 3rd-and-7, a 3rd-and-6 and a 3rd-and-13 on Michigan’s first-half three-and-outs. The last one preceded Oregon’s third touchdown drive of the game, which staked the Ducks to a 21-7 lead.

“You got to be better on first down,” Moore said Monday. “You got to get more positive gains on first down. So I know [Davis] took a lot of grief to himself for it, but I thought he played pretty well and made some plays for us and and did some things.

“I mean, out of pocket plays, touchdown both times. So he took a lot of the blame. But, as a team, we got to be better on first down.”

To Moore’s point, both of Warren’s touchdown passes came on third down. He moved right before firing across his body and locating Morris on 3rd-and-Goal from the Oregon 7-yard line in the first quarter. Then, on 3rd-and-Goal from the Oregon 6-yard line in the third quarter, Warren backpedaled and found senior wideout Peyton O’Leary across the back of the end zone for six.

That second touchdown pass made it a 28-17 game. A pair of costly Michigan penalties on the ensuing Ducks drive — an offsides on 4th-and-4 from the Oregon 42-yard line and an illegal substitution on 2nd-and-6 from the Michigan 37-yard line — helped Oregon tack on a field goal.

Even so, Michigan had a chance to pull within one score of the Ducks in the final frame. But, on 4th-and-5 from the Oregon 10-yard line, Wolverines offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell opted for a throwback pass from sophomore receiver Semaj Morgan to backup quarterback Alex Orji. That trick play didn’t work, and Oregon answered with a touchdown drive that put the game out of reach.

Albeit in a losing effort, Warren breathed some life into a mostly-defunct Michigan downfield passing attack. He finished 13-of-23 with 165 passing yards, two touchdowns and, notably, zero interceptions. The senior hit on 6-of-7 passes that traveled 10-19 air yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Each of his touchdown throws took place in that depth, per PFF.

“I think Coach Campbell did a great job calling stuff for us and scheming guys and doing a great job,” Warren said. “The O-Line did a great job protecting. And whether it was Cole (Colston Loveland) or TMo (Morris) or Peyton or whoever it was, I thought when the opportunities were there, we made them.

“But at the end of the day, you know, we left some out there, left some meat on the bone. We had opportunities, and we just didn’t capitalize when we should have.”