Michigan coach Sherrone Moore: QB Alex Orji's role will 'grow and grow every game'
Michigan Wolverines football senior quarterback Davis Warren notched his first career start in a 30-10 win over Fresno State. But he didn’t throw the team’s first touchdown pass. That was junior Alex Orji, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound quarterback who’s primarily served as a runner in his career.
From the 3-yard line, the Bulldogs thought Orji would run the ball or hand it off, but he rolled to his right and made an easy pitch and catch with senior running back Donovan Edwards, who waltzed into the end zone to put Michigan up 7-0 in the first quarter.
“We had a plan of, we were going to put him in … the first time he’d be in there, he had that play action and throw it,” head coach Sherrone Moore said on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show. “Thought that he’d be a lightning bolt — they’d say that he’d be running the ball — so he did a really good job of executing the play, and it was a really good job by Donovan of making the catch.”
Warren played 53 of 62 offensive snaps, and Orji was in on the other nine. The starter completed 15 of his 25 passes for 118 yards and 1 touchdown with an interception. The pick came on a deep post route intended for sophomore wideout Fredrick Moore, but the ball was underthrown. Moore said it wasn’t all Warren’s fault.
“I thought Davis did a great job of managing the game,” the Michigan coach said. “He’d probably say he’d have that post throw back. He could’ve put a little bit more air on it, but also the route detail could’ve been better to create the separation for him, so there are two parts of it.
“Overall, he managed the game really well, was never in a panic. He played within the confines of the offense, made some really nice throws and just continues to get better.
Orji, meanwhile, had 3 first-down runs on his 5 attempts and totaled 32 rushing yards, on top of the touchdown pass.
“I thought he played well in the role,” the Michigan coach opined. “I think he had 13 snaps, and I think he averaged about 6 yards per carry when he did run the ball. He did a really good job. Obviously, threw a touchdown pass. He’ll have an extensive package to what he does throughout games, and it’ll grow and grow every game, but I thought he did a really good job.
“Just to watch both those guys on the sideline together was really cool. I mean, Alex throws the touchdown and Davis Warren is sprinting out of the box to celebrate with the guys. That just shows you the story of how the relationship is between those two guys.”
A key for Moore and the Michigan offense will be to not disrupt the flow when rotating the two quarterbacks.
“I think there will be a rhythm,” Moore said. “I think you’ll catch a rhythm. And we’ll have some stuff that’s scripted, but we’ll catch a rhythm of when to use him and when not to use him, and we’ll do that successfully. Keep Davis in a rhythm, and if he’s in the game, keep Orji in a rhythm. Make sure we’re doing that for our team.”
Michigan plays Texas this Saturday, and Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian mentioned what a challenge it will be to face Orji.
“This guy is a problem, because you have to treat him like a runner,” Sarkisian said. “He’s got size, he’s got speed, he can change the math on you quickly when you start adding him to the quarterback runs. But yet the arm talent is there to where he can affect you, especially down the field.”
