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ANN ARBOR, MI – After five weeks of the Michigan football season, the biggest question mark surrounding the team is the passing game. The Wolverines have already had to make one quarterback change, and fans are beginning to call for another as there is still little presence in the passing game. Alex Orji is the current starter, and while head coach Sherrone Moore has seen some growth, he is aware that there is still a lot of work to be done.
In Alex Orji's first start for the Michigan football team, he threw for just 32 passing yards. He got his second start on Saturday against Minnesota, and he did some make more plays through the air, but he also threw a bad interception. He finished the game 10-18 through the air for 86 yards.
“A work in progress, gotta get better,” Sherrone Moore said to the media on Monday in regard to the passing game. “Gotta continue to strive to get better. It starts with me and how we organize practice and things we can do to help them. [Alex] Orji did some really good things and improved, went through some progressions which was good to see. Gotta continue improving in that aspect and then we gotta get open for him too. We gotta protect. It's a team thing.”
Up until the interception, Alex Orji was clearly having a better game than he had against USC. However, the pick was rough. Orji had Donovan Edwards wide open for a touchdown down the sidelines, but he instead threw it to Colston Loveland, who was also open, but he threw it to the side that the defender was on, and it was intercepted.
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If Orji had gone to Edwards on that play, it's likely a touchdown to put Michigan up 31-3, and the game is out of reach. Instead, the interception happened, and it led to Minnesota making a comeback and making things interesting.
“The interception, if it's a little to the right, it's not a pick,” Moore said. “Colston [Loveland] will tell you he's gotta help him, but we also need to progress, we had Donovan [Edwards] down the sideline. It's football, it's gonna happen, but he made some steps in the right direction. … He's making the steps needed and we'll continue to push him.”
Orji will be getting his first road start this weekend as Michigan will be taking on Washington in a rematch of last year's national title game. The Wolverines and Huskies are both VERY different teams this year.
Michigan and Washington will kickoff from Husky Stadium in Seattle at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT, and the game will be airing on NBC. The Huskies are currently favored by 2.5 points.
