Sherrone Moore explains decision to bench Davis Warren

Michigan entered the 2024 season with a plan at quarterback: senior and former walk-on Davis Warren would start, and junior rushing threat Alex Orji would spell him. But it turned out the Wolverines plan was much better as a concept than in practice.

And it culminated with head coach Sherrone Moore benching Warren in the third quarter, a decision he readily attributed to the turnovers, as Michigan was 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.

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“Yeah. I mean, just can’t have ’em,” Moore said. “Put the ball in harms way too many times, so made a change and we’ll continue practice and go from there.”

Warren finished the game 11-of-14 passing for 122 yards and the three interceptions, two of them particularly ugly. The first came when he lofted a prayer in the direction of tight end Colston Loveland while under pressure, which was easily intercepted. Warren’s second turnover was forgivable, as his attempt to connect on a deep corner was sent tumbling through the air as a push rusher clipped his throwing arm. The third, which got Warren pulled, was a poor decision to push a ball downfield into triple coverage.

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Orji finished 2-of-4, including one pitch-and-catch touchdown on the goal line and 12 passing yards, while rushing for 27 on three carries.

After Orji completed his touchdown pass to Hogan Hansen, the Michigan Stadium crowd chanted “Orji! Orji!”

The situation now leaves Michigan in need, perhaps, of more plans to deploy Orji in a bigger role. 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.

“That’s why we practice, we’ll figure that out in practice,” Moore said.

Moore was also asked if he was surprised by Warren’s turnovers, as he looked relatively crisp and in-sync in the offense on the passes he did complete. After Saturday, though, Warren has just two passing touchdowns and six interceptions on the year.

“Yeah, just not great stuff to put on film and, yeah I was surprised,” Moore said. “It’s football though, so that stuff’s going to happen and we had to make a change.”