Sherrone Moore's phone call with Michigan QB Jack Tuttle after Washington loss

Michigan Wolverines football was down 14-0 in the second quarter at Washington Oct. 5. Graduate quarterback Jack Tuttle, who replaced junior Alex Orji after three fruitless possessions, was one of the main reasons why the Maize and Blue took a 17-14 edge in the third stanza. But his fourth-quarter mistakes, losing a fumble and throwing an interception, were also some of the factors in U-M losing the lead and collapsing in a 27-17 setback.

Tuttle had missed the first five contests of the season and most of the offseason with injury, only returning to being a full participant in the week leading up to the road trip to Seattle.

The seventh-year player who stands 6-foot-4, 211 pounds completed 10 of his 18 passes for 98 yards with 1 touchdown. He said he was blessed to return to the field, saying he didn’t know if he’d throw a football again, but disappointed in the result. Head coach Sherrone Moore stepped in the day after the game to make sure he was in good spirits.

“Nobody beats themselves up about a loss or anything that happens more than the players do, and it’s my job to make sure they’re in a good mental headspace and can continue to push forward,” Moore said. “I thought for three days of practice, he went in the game and competed at a high level.

“Obviously, the turnovers are what they are, and we have to eliminate them, but I wanted to make sure that we knew we are confident in him and what he can do. Pushing forward with how he’s prepared these last couple days and last week into yesterday and today — he’s up there watching film — he’s gone in the right direction.”

Tuttle is now the leader of the Michigan offense, but he’s already been leading despite not being able to fully practice or play in games the majority of the season.

“He is who he’s been,” Moore said. “Obviously, he hadn’t practiced for a whole length of time and then got to practice and play in the game. They call him ‘Uncle Jack,’ a seventh year guy that’s done it, seen it, been in the big games, been in all the big games.

“He’s done a really good job, so he’s just continuing to progress and do all those things right now.”

There was likely some rust from Tuttle, who hadn’t seen game action since garbage time in a 49-0 win over Michigan State Oct. 21, 2023. But his knowledge of the offense and how to command it was there, Moore said.

“Even though he didn’t practice, he’s been in meetings, he’s been out there, so he’s seen it, he’s done it,” Moore said. “He just hasn’t been able to practice and do all the things at full speed, and obviously throwing and the timing and all that [was something he hadn’t executed in a while].

“Timing with the receivers and the tight ends and timing the handoffs and all those things, that’s what he had to really progress at, and he did a really good job.”

Michigan has been plagued by turnovers all season long, committing 12 of them in 6 games compared to only 8 in 15 contests last year.

“I looked at everything,” Moore said of his assessment during the bye week. “The biggest thing with the picks was either route distribution [or] timing of the throw. Protection was [responsible for] one, but it really was that. So when you have a mistimed route and mistimed throw, that’s what happens.

“We gotta really focus on the little things, the route detail, the precision of the throw, the precision of the route, making sure those things all time up. And putting guys in position to make sure they’re successful, so moving guys around in different places, which I think we did a really good job with this past week, and excited to see them as we practice this week.”

While Orji was the last quarterback to lease the starting job, senior Davis Warren is also in the mix to be the backup. Michigan may also use Orji even while Tuttle is the starter, like it did at the beginning of the season. Even before he became the main man behind center to open Big Ten play, Orji was featured with 10 rushes and 15 pass attempts in the first three outings.

“We’ll see,” Moore said on who Michigan’s backup quarterback is. “Right now, we still have Alex, and Alex will be there, and he’ll have a role. And we still got Davis, so we’ll continue to roll those guys.”

Another player who was a revelation in the Washington loss was junior wideout Amorion Walker, who was on the receiving end of a 3rd and 10 pickup by he and Tuttle. The 6-foot-3, 182-pounder who wears the prestigious No. 1 jersey saw his first catch of the season go for 22 yards to keep a touchdown-scoring drive alive.

“Confidence, man,” Moore said of what allowed Walker to earn his opportunity. “He’s such a talented kid, and confidence and knowledge of the system, knowing the system and us just moving him around different places. Yeah, definitely going to have a role here — a little bigger — as we grow. It started last week, and really gotten to this week, so excited to watch him grow this week.”