Michigan set to start Davis Warren at QB vs. Michigan State
The Michigan Wolverines are spinning the quarterback carousel once more, turning to senior signal-caller Davis Warren for Saturday night’s showdown against the Michigan State Spartans. The news was teased in Friday morning’s edition of Inside The Fort by TheWolverine.com’s Chris Balas.
Warren started the first three games of the season for Michigan, throwing for 444 yards with 2 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Three of those came in a 28-18 win over Arkansas State in Week 3, which led to his benching in favor of junior Alex Orji.
Orji started a pair of 27-24 wins at home against USC and Minnesota, respectively, and a third game at Washington on Oct. 5. He was benched early in the game in favor of graduate Jack Tuttle, who led a comeback effort that fell short.
Tuttle started last week’s 21-7 loss to Illinois, turning the ball over a pair of times and prompting head coach Sherrone Moore to re-evaluate his quarterback situation sitting at 4-3 on the season.
“You just can’t have them,” Moore said of the turnovers after Warren was benched. “We put the ball in harm’s way too many times, so made a change and we’ll continue practicing and go from there. It’s just not great stuff to put on film. I was surprised. It’s football, though, so that stuff’s going to happen, and we had to make a change.”
Top 10
- 1New
Tom Brady helped land QB
Michigan got assist on Underwood
- 2
MSU TE hospitalized
Jack Velling injured on first possession
- 3
Rhett Lashlee
SMU coach gets extension
- 4
Justin Fields
OSU legend to make CGD picks
- 5Hot
Bryce Underwood
Michigan flips No. 1 QB Bryce Underwood from LSU
Warren was 11-for-14 for 122 yards in the Arkansas State game with his only incompletions coming via the three interceptions he threw.
“[Warren was] disappointed, as you think he would be,” Moore said after the benching. “For him, his attitude and the way he carried himself with the other guys was outstanding, but he knew he couldn’t do that, put the ball in harm’s way. But he was as positive as he could be.”
The Michigan head coach declined to name a starter during his Monday press conference in Ann Arbor, saying that they would use the week of practice to see what they would do moving forward. It appears the decision has been made, and we will have to wait and see what the pecking order looks like in warmups on Saturday night.
The game between Michigan and Michigan State is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Big Ten Network from the Big House. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Wolverines are a 4.5-point favorite with the over/under for total points scored set at 38.5.
