Michigan football is coming off of a huge win against USC, a game in which quarterback Alex Orji only threw for 32 yards. That’s the fewest passing yards in a Michigan win since 1987. For most of the second half, it appeared that Michigan’s inability to throw the ball was going to result in a loss.
But it didn’t. The Wolverines got a massive win against a USC team that could make the College Football Playoff this season. USC is one of the best teams in the nation, and Michigan beat them despite USC knowing what was coming every single play.
Now, is that formula sustainable? Can Michigan football knock off Oregon, Ohio State, or even the lesser teams on their schedule without throwing the ball? Probably not. But I believe that the USC game was NOT indicative of what’s to come for Michigan, as far as throwing the ball goes. And here’s why.
Colston Loveland didn’t play
This is far and away the number one reason to stay calm (for now). It’s no secret that aside from Loveland, Michigan football doesn’t have a ton of superstar receiving threats.
When you have a new starting quarterback, you want them to get comfortable throwing the ball. That means you want easy routes to open receivers. On Saturday, Michigan’s receivers did not get open, and the staff didn’t want to force Orji to try to thread the needle.
We saw that Orji targeted tight end Marlin Klein a number of times against USC, and Klein just couldn’t get open enough to haul in the passes. But with Loveland back, Orji is going to have that safety valve that he can rely on.
While I’m in no way implying that Orji is going to be throwing for 200+ yards every week with Loveland on the field, I certainly expect him to be over 100 yards.
While we’d all love to see more out of the wide receivers on the team, having a guy like Loveland should make Orji much more comfortable, and allow the Wolverines to have success.
Orji is only going to become more experienced
Another reason that freaking out over the USC game is an overreaction is because it was Alex Orji’s first game as the starting quarterback.
Knowing that his strength is as a runner, combined with the fact that Loveland was out, of course the Wolverines were going to run it as much as possible. That was hands down their best chance to win. And although it didn’t look pretty at times, it worked.
As Orji becomes more comfortable and confident, the playbook should open up a bit more. I’d expect to see the staff try to incorporate some deep shots into the gameplan going forward. Sophomore wide receiver Fredrick Moore has looked promising so far, and I’d expect Michigan football to take some shots with him.
The bottom line is that you can’t make final judgements based off of Alex Orji’s first game as a starter. Especially when a) Michigan won the game, and b) Michigan’s best receiver wasn’t playing. Orji is only going to improve as a passer, and we should see that in the weeks to come. Let’s hope for some good improvement. Go blue.
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