By Kyle Golik
During Week 1, Michigan did not impress against Fresno State. Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore fielded questions post game in regards to the Wolverines’ lackluster performance.
“We’re always going to strive to be perfect. Defense played really good but there are things they want to get better at. Offense, we had our ups and downs. We’re going to try and get better. There’s not really a time where everyone thinks they’ve reached the pinnacle of where we need to be, because if you do that, you’ve already lost. For us, in all the phases, special teams as well, you continue to strive to be better,” Moore said following the game.
The offense, which a season ago averaged 382.7 yards per game in total offense, had over 100 yards less per game. The running game remained consistent but the passing game seemed to be stuck in neutral as Davis Warren got the call, was efficient, but a far cry from what J.J. McCarthy did a season ago.
Many thought dual-threat quarterback Alex Orji, who over the summer seemed to be the prohibitive favorite to be the successor to McCarthy was placed in situations against Fresno State to make splash plays. But overall, Moore felt Warren was more consistent over camp and won the job the last week of it.
As the offense is still trying to find themselves as they head in for their showdown with Texas, Moore recognizes where his team is at following Fresno State and what it needs to get to.
“Yeah, you saw guys weren’t scared of the big stage. Obviously, a great atmosphere in the big house, but I think players played extremely hard offensively. We got a rhythm at the end of the game, really felt the line jelling, got a rhythm of everything going on. I thought offensively, they definitely picked it up there. Got things to clean up as we always will and run game technique, fundamentals. It’s the tale of 10 guys and you got one guy that doesn’t do the job and then the play fails. So, we gotta continue to get better at that, but we will. This week, we’re gonna put our hard hat on and we’re gonna work our tails off this week to have a great week of prepping. I thought defensively, they flew around. They were violent, they were physical. Had a lot of fun. Big thing there, we gotta clean up. We just gotta be stable emotionally. We had that one drive where we had a couple penalties that can go either way, but we can’t have them. So, for us, we’re gonna eliminate those and just play our style of football.”
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I listened to Rick Neuheisel on CBS boast how dynamic Texas is and how they will ‘whip’ Michigan, and there is a legitimate possibility of this. Still, Michigan could come out and play competitively and keep it close. While I do feel Texas will win this game, you have to recognize the possibility of Michigan leveraging the home field and getting the win. Whatever the outcome is, no one should have a major reflection or react one way or the other.
When you look at the 13 Michigan Wolverines that got drafted by the NFL that isn’t easy to replace. It seems, reading between the lines, the quarterback battle was a dead heat and if you have two quarterbacks, you really don’t got one. Maybe Warren or Orji will assert themselves as the starter some point this season, but right now Michigan loyalists can’t feel good at the quarterback situation after 121 yards against Fresno State.
The offensive line, whom Moore coached to a pair of Joe Moore Awards, wasn’t given much approbation from Moore, “Yeah, never where you want it to be. And I think it’s probably, you know, it’s definitely got to get better. But I thought the attitude, I thought the strain was there. The details and the technique have to continue to get better. And that’s a product of your first game as an offensive line.”
While the defense is still full of blue-chip NFL Draft prospects like cornerback Will Johnson and defensive tackle Mason Graham, it seems Michigan will go as far as the defense will carry them.
I feel Moore is in a transition year, the team’s proverbial cupboard is fully stocked though it has some nice pieces, and there is plenty of development for the team and even for Moore as he accrues experience and matures himself.
To me, the outcome of the game will be what it is, Moore deserves time to prove he was the right choice or a sacrificial lamb. I am not naive but if Moore’s losses in the big games begin to stack, what happens Saturday negatively will come back and stack. That is the nature of the business Moore is in.
