ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan football will have a new starting quarterback for its game against USC.
The passing attack was underwhelming once again during Saturday’s win over Arkansas State. Davis Warren completed 11 of 14 attempts, but finished with only 122 yards and three interceptions.
Warren, who surprisingly won the starting job late in fall camp, is 48-for-72 (66.7%) this season for 444 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions.
He threw for 204 yards against Texas -- the new No. 1 team in the country, but also turned the ball over twice.
The Wolverines are turning instead to Alex Orji for their Big Ten opener against USC.
“Alex will start on Saturday,” Head Coach Sherrone Moore said. “Excited for him. He’s been in here champing at the bit, so we’ll move on from there.”
Orji hasn’t had many passing opportunities (3-for-6 for 15 yards and two touchdowns), but his running ability adds another dimension to the offense.
And Michigan’s offense certainly needs more dimensions.
Michigan is a heavy underdog this weekend against the Trojans, who upset LSU in the opener and trounced Utah State 48-0 before their bye week.
Moore is hoping Orji can spark some magic and keep the defending national champions in the hunt for a fourth-straight playoff trip.
“Just take the reins, perform like he did in the first couple weeks of camp,” Moore said. “Thought he was in a really good place. Davis outperformed him in camp at the end, and would love to see him just take the reins and do what he’s been doing through those first couple weeks.
“I think he will. He’s had a great couple weeks of practice. So has Davis, but obviously, you’ve got to perform in the games. Excited to see what Alex is going to do, and he’s been in here studying his tail off the past couple days like he always does, but you can see it ramped up even more.”
