Michigan QB Davis Warren weighs in on first start, ready for Texas challenge

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines got off to a 1-0 start over the weekend with senior Davis Warren running the offense at quarterback, which was the culmination of a years-long journey for him.

A former high school star whose junior and senior seasons were impacted by a leukemia diagnosis and COVID-19 pandemic, respectively, worked his way from walk-on to scholarship player to starting quarterback. When he got the news last week, his family was the first to find out.

“I called my parents,” Warren said. “It was a good feeling. They’ve been with me through thick and thin, uh, through it all, so it was exciting to be able to share that news with them. I told them they had to kind of keep it on the down low, which I know is hard for them. They had people texting them and calling them like that.

“People reached out to me, so I had to kind of keep it down. Coach Moore pulled me in and gave me that news, which was a good feeling. It’s just more of an excitement factor to get going and to have the trust of the guys and the coaches. Felt good.”

With the initial burst of news out of the way, the attention turned to the performance on the field. Warren finished his first start at Michigan 15-for-25 for 118 yard with one touchdown and one interception. It was far from a sterling night at the offense, and not entirely on him with offensive line errors, drops and other miscues, but he feels there was a ton of potential left on the field.

“I think a ton [can improve],” Warren said. “Definitely a few things here and there where we lacked some details and precision in the passing game. That starts with me as the quarterback to do a better job of that. Left some meat on the bone. But it was the same kind of way in fall camp. Just took a little time to get going. But once we started rolling [in camp] and had confidence in each other, it was an explosive offense with explosive plays all over the place. 15-plus-yard pass plays. We can kind of get those going a little bit more.

“I have a ton of confidence in the guys that we can do that. Whether it’s Colston, Semaj, T-Mo, Peyton, Kendrick, Marlin, all those guys. I’m just really excited to get back to work this week. We’ve got a real great opportunity and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Warren’s ascension to Michigan starter began his freshman season, preparing like a starter even without a shot in the world at seeing the field on Saturdays. Former starters Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy played a major role in helping him along the way.

“I think just sticking to what I know, sticking to the process,” Warren said. “It started when I was a freshman sitting there and watched film with Cade until 10 or 11 at night, even though I knew I was never going to play, just so I could learn as much as I could from him and how he watched film and how he understood the game.

“Same thing when I was the backup to JJ and preparing if something happened with him that I was ready to go. And then it’s just taken even a bigger step up being the starter now and envisioning being out there, envisioning the crowd and Texas on the other side of the ball and their defenses and what we think we’re going to see and then what we’re going to do on offense.

“That’s a huge part of my mental preparation… envision the nerves and just be ready to do whatever it takes to win the game. Go through each play and know that, I can operate at a high level for this offense and keep us moving down the field and make it close.”

Saturday is as stiff a second test that any could face. Warren and the Wolverines have a ton to clean up this week with a potential national title contender coming to town in Texas. Even with a green group of guys that are still coming together, the senior signal-caller believes the program’s experience playing in big games will unlock the best version of this team.

“We’re more than ready,” Warren said. “I know we’re ready for this matchup. And we played in so many big games last year. I think all the guys realize that it’s the same game. It’s the same sport. Even if the guys that were on the field last year are gone, it’s new guys. Everyone was on that sideline. They knew what it was like. They know what those atmospheres are like. And I think that’s really prepared us to go in this week and play well.”

If Michigan has a shot of winning on Saturday afternoon, Warren and the offense need to flip a switch and show the world what they saw in fall camp. The approach should not change a ton, even if the execution needs to.

“I’m just going to take what the defense gives me,” Warren said. “Whatever it is I’m going to find it. It also is using my pre-snap indicators to figure out what exactly they’re doing on defense and then with post-snap confirmation, knowing where my eyes should go. That’s the part of my game I feel really confident.

“Once you kind of have a feel for what they’re doing, and you trust your preparation, you trust your film study, then you should know who’s going to be open, and you should know that open spot, so you can just get your eyes there and make a confident throw, and I think we did that a lot. There’s a few more times where we could do that and that falls on me, but we’ll keep working on it.”

The game with Texas is a 12 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday afternoon as part of FOX’s Big Noon Saturday coverage. The Longhorns are listed as 5.5-point favorites with the over/under for total points scored at 49.5.