Can the Michigan Wolverines offense acclimate Alex Orji's rushing quick enough against the USC Trojans?
The Michigan Wolverines benched starting quarterback Davis Warren, turning to Alex Orji to lead the offense. After throwing multiple interceptions in just three games, including three in three quarters last week against Arkansas State, the staff lost trust in Warren, opting to put in Orji, who led one of their best offensive drives of the […]
The Michigan Wolverines benched starting quarterback Davis Warren, turning to Alex Orji to lead the offense. After throwing multiple interceptions in just three games, including three in three quarters last week against Arkansas State, the staff lost trust in Warren, opting to put in Orji, who led one of their best offensive drives of the season to ice the game for Michigan last week.
Davis Warren finally and mercifully benched, setting Michigan free to make critical changes to their offense
Michigan finally make the easy right choice at QB
Now, Michigan goes into their first game with Orji as the full-time starter. The stakes couldn't be higher, as the 11th-ranked USC Trojans come into town for Michigan's Big 10 opener.
The question on everyone's mind leading up to this game is: "Can Michigan shift enough offensively under Orji to turn their offense around?"
Let's dive in.
Before the season started, I took a look at what an offense would look like under Warren vs Orji, using Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell's past jobs for some references.
While at Old Dominion, Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell had a similar dilemma between D.J. Mack Jr and Hayden Wolff. Mack was the more athletic of the two, and the play calls showed it.
With Mack under center, the Monarchs took advantage of his mobility, frequently dialing up option plays several times a game to get him on the move and add a +1 in the run game to give them an advantage against opposing defenses."
Before Old Dominion, Campbell's prior stop was with the Penn State Nittany Lions from 2017-19.
If you're not familiar with those Penn State teams, the Nittany Lions were led by Trace McSorley and Sean Clifford at quarterback. Neither were gifted passers, but they were capable athletes. The quarterback run game was a pivotal part of Penn State's offenses during those years. Over those three seasons, those two quarterbacks amassed 1,691 yards on the ground, and the QB finished second on the team in rushing each year.
Campbell is assuredly familiar with this style of offense and should emulate something similar.
However, Campbell isn't the only coach on this staff who is well-tied to the quarterback run game.
Tight ends coach Steve Casula served as the OC at Ferris State from 2017-18, who was a heavy QB run team. In fact, in that 2017 season, both quarterbacks rushed over 100 times and amassed six touchdowns a piece.
Casula coached quarterback Jayru Campbell to the 2018 Harlon Hill Trophy as the Division II College Football Player of the Year.
Casula was the offensive coordinator at Umass in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the Minutemen played four different quarterbacks during the season. Those four quarterbacks combined for 182 attempts in 2022. 2023 was much similar, although UMass switched gears to throw the ball more. Still, the Minutemen's quarterback room rushed the ball 84 times that season.
Additionally, running backs coach Tony Alford was the assistant head coach of offense at Ohio State from 2015-23. This is only notable for what the Buckeyes ran with J.T. Barrett under center. In 2015, Alford's first year there, Barrett ran for 682 yards and 11 touchdowns and followed it up with 845 in 2016 and 798 in 2017.
The Michigan Wolverines' coaching staff has plenty of experience to rely on to build out a formidable quarterback run game. Alex Orji is a freak athlete, capable of generating explosive rushes with ease.
Can the staff build this offense this quickly in mid-season? We'll find out on Saturday.
