Greg McElroy: This could be an ugly year for Michigan

Greg McElroy believes Sherrone’s Moore first season as the Michigan head coach could go down an ugly path if the past three weeks are any indication for the Wolverines.

On the latest episode of Always College Football with Greg McElroy, the former SEC star gave his reasons for why 2024 could be a long season for Michigan, as trouble is brewing in Ann Arbor after a narrow victory over Arkansas State in Week 3.

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“Michigan, not looking good there,” McElroy stated. “You’ve got USC next week, and you have three picks thrown by your quarterback this past week. You beat Arkansas State by 10. It’s the farthest thing from stellar in the performance whatsoever. They’ve got to figure out the quarterback spot, because SC is going to score.

“Can you move the ball against SC? If you can’t, then we’ve got major issues in Michigan. They’re already 2-1. I think they’re losing next week to the Trojans. Then, you look at what’s coming up, this could be a really ugly year in Ann Arbor.”

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As McElroy eluded to, Michigan entered the season with an interesting plan at quarterback, as senior and former walk-on Davis Warren started games, with junior rushing threat Alex Orji spelling him. So far, it’s been far from efficient, and much better as a concept than in practice.

It all came to a head when Moore benched Warren in the third quarter during last weekend’s game, a decision he readily attributed to the turnovers, as the Wolverines were dominating in the run game and, until the final minutes, stifling on defense in a 28-18 win against Arkansas State. Without the turnovers, the Wolverines likely could’ve easily pulled away.

Moving forward, Michigan is now in a situation where they might have to deploy Orji in a bigger role against USC. So far, his passing opportunities have been extremely limited, and the looks he has gotten have been simplistic, on-the-move passes for the most part.

If Orji is to play in a bigger role, he’ll likely need to show some more ability as a down-to-down passes.

Perhaps he’ll surprise some people, and in turn lead analysts like Greg McElroy to return to the Wolverines’ hype train over the next few weeks. However, if Michigan doesn’t defeat USC, it might all be for naught, as the program can’t afford many more losses over the next couple of months.

On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this article.