ANN ARBOR, MI – The Michigan football team will start their third quarterback of the season this weekend against #22 Illinois. Davis Warren was the starter at the beginning of the year, then Alex Orji took over, and it now time for Jack Tuttle to have a turn. Tuttle came in for Orji during the Washington game, and while he provided a spark, the Wolverines still lost the game.

Now, the Michigan football team is 4-2, and one more loss will likely end any hopes of making the College Football Playoff. There already isn't much hope, but who knows, maybe Jack Tuttle will change this offense and revitalize the season.

Right now, the offensive MVP of the season for Michigan has been probably been running back Kalel Mullings. Mullings saw a lot of good things from Tuttle against Washington, but he knows the offense still has a lot of work to do.

“The second half of the Washington game we were able to move the ball for a little bit, but we still need to find ways to be able to be consistent,” Kalel Mullings said to the media on Tuesday night. “In my opinion, that's one of our biggest problems, just sustaining drives. When push came to shove, there will still some stagnant times. Still attacking that and trying to improve that.”

In terms of those inconsistencies, Mullings thinks that the Wolverines need to do a better job of finding success on first and second down in order to create consistent, sustainable drives.

“In my opinion, I think it's winning first and second down.” Mullings said about the lack of consistency. “I feel like if we can get it to third and short, knowing coach [Sherrone] Moore we'll probably go for it on fourth if we don't get it. So as long as we can find ways to win first and second down and get to that third and short, we'll be able to sustain drives.”

Jack Tuttle adds balance to the Michigan football offense

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Against Washington, it was clear that the Huskies were not concerned about the Michigan football team passing the ball when Alex Orji was in. In fact, Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch even said that they had to switch to “normal” defense once Jack Tuttle came in. Kalel Mullings thinks that Tuttle brings a nice sense of balance to the offense.

“Yeah, it feels like it,” Mullings said when he was asked if Jack Tuttle balances the offense. “It feels like it for sure. Props to Jack [Tuttle], just being able to go out there and compete and play and run an offense with little prep time, it's hard to do. But definitely felt like it. It's only been about a half, so we'll see how it continues to develop.”

Creating and maintaining that balance will be crucial for the team's success going forward. Being a run-first team is fine, but you have to have someone that can make a play with their arm when it's needed. Tuttle seems to be that guy for the Wolverines.

Michigan and Illinois will kick off from Memorial Stadium in Champaign at 3:30 ET/2:30 CT on Saturday, and the game will be airing on CBS. The Wolverines are currently favored by three points.