Sherrone Moore defends poor quarterback play, says rest of offense 'has to be better'
Michigan's offense in 2023 was a well-oiled machine that catapulted them to a national championship. In 2024? It's more akin to a fixer-upper your uncle might have stored in his garage for 30 years. Part of it has been a largely ineffective passing game. Michigan is 128th in passing yards per game, just behind Navy […]
Michigan's offense in 2023 was a well-oiled machine that catapulted them to a national championship. In 2024? It's more akin to a fixer-upper your uncle might have stored in his garage for 30 years.
Part of it has been a largely ineffective passing game. Michigan is 128th in passing yards per game, just behind Navy (yes, Navy). The Wolverines have started three different quarterbacks this season, and none of them have provided much beyond a brief flame of a spark.
Davis Warren strung together the most impressive performance of any Michigan quarterback this season against Oregon, completing 12 of his 21 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite some struggles still working beyond his first read, Warren was able to make a few plays happen to keep Michigan in a game that not many expected them to stay in. Warren criticized his play afterward and his inability to convert plays, particularly on third down.
However, Wolverines' head coach Sherrone Moore defended Warren's play against Oregon.
"I want to say it isn’t just on Davis. I think there’s a lot of things we could have did as an offense, just as a whole, just little details and just the smaller things that everybody needs to fix. But it’s something we definitely need to get fixed because we only got a certain amount of time to play a game, so we can’t come out just wasting time and giving the ball back."
Michigan was 4-of-12 on third down, but the Wolverines’ average third down distance against the Ducks was 8.2 yards. On every three-and-out drive for Michigan in the first half, Warren faced a 3rd and 7, a 3rd and 6, and a 3rd and 13. All of those drives started with a run.
I wrote about their early-down inefficiencies at the beginning of the season, and it's still been a problem for the Wolverines. They have to right that ship this weekend against Indiana, who is averaging 46.6 points per game.
While this doesn't excuse Warren's play, it does provide some context about why the offense sputters so often. Michigan just isn't built to play like they did last season, and that's a lesson that has yet to sink in for the coaching staff.
Still, it's fair to say Michigan will be looking for better answers at quarterback next season.