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It's rivalry week in the mitten state as the Michigan football team and Michigan State will go to battle on Saturday night in Ann Arbor. This rivalry is always a big game no matter what, but there is some added pressure for Sherrone Moore and his Wolverines this season. Michigan won the national championship last year, but a loss to Michigan State would put them at 4-4 and below their rival that they beat by nearly 50 points last year. It would be rock bottom.
The Michigan football team is going into this game with a ton of questions marks, specifically on offense. The biggest concern is that the team doesn't have a quarterback. Literally. Sherrone Moore met with the media on Monday afternoon, and he said that the team will figure out who their QB will be this week during practice.
“We'll see during practice this week,” Moore said when he was asked about who the QB will be for Saturday's rivalry game. “Yeah, we'll see as we go through this week.”
Coming into the season, there were three QBs that were in the running to win the starting QB job: Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle. Through seven games, the Wolverines have now gone through all three of them, and they still haven't sniffed anything close to competent play from any of them.
Davis Warren won the job during camp and he started the season as the team's QB. He was benched during Michigan's week three win against Arkansas State for Alex Orji. Orji started the next three games but was benched during the Washington game for Jack Tuttle. Tuttle showed some promise during that game, but his performance against Illinois was not good, and now the Wolverines are back to square one.
There hasn't been a QB named yet, but Moore did provide more of an update on the Inside Michigan Football radio show on Monday night, and it sounds like he is leaning toward Tuttle.
“I think right now, Jack [Tuttle] would be the guy, but you have to go through the week and see what happens.”
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Turnovers have been the biggest problem for Michigan football QBs
Turnovers have plagued the Michigan football team, and a lot of them have come from their QBs. Davis Warren was initially benched because he threw three interceptions against Arkansas State, and Jack Tuttle now has two lost fumbles and two interceptions and he hasn't even played two full games. Alex Orji is the only QB that didn't have a turnover issue, but a big reason for that is because he only hands the football off. He didn't show any capability of being able to perform in the passing game.
There's no doubt about it, Michigan has to get these turnovers under control. Sherrone Moore knows that it is the biggest problem these QBs, and the team in general, are facing.
“Taking care of the ball, that's going to be the #1 priority, the biggest thing,” Moore said when he was asked about what he's looking for in his QBs. “You want big plays, you want efficiency, but we have to take care of the football.”
The last two losses have been ugly for Michigan in a lot of ways, but if you go back and look at them closer, they could've won both games despite a lot of issues if they hadn't turned the football over. This team has talent, there's no question there, but they have to take care of the football at all times.
Michigan and Michigan State will kick off from the Big House in Ann Arbor at 7:30 ET on Saturday night, and the game will be airing on the Big Ten Network. The Wolverines are currently favored by five points.
