ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football fans are split on the status quo of their beloved program. On one hand, there are those who hoped Alex Orji would win the quarterback job and run with it, and others who were (and are) in the Davis Warren camp.
Neither has exactly set the world on fire, but with Warren’s six interceptions in the first three games, the Wolverines made the switch to Orji and are almost certainly not looking back.
His offensive coordinator, Kirk Campbell, met with the media for the first time since before fall camp and he’s liked the progression that Orji has made from Week 4 to Week 5 (essentially Orji’s Week 1 to Week 2). He didn’t get the benefit of going up against a meager defensive attack as his first start came in a ranked game against USC. And though he only threw for 32 yards that week and 83 the next, Campbell sees progress and development in action.
“What I saw from Alex is his first start was in a big game, huge game. Arguably one of the biggest wins we’ve had at home since 2021 against Ohio State,” Campbell said. “He was thrust in that opportunity. He was poised, he was composed. The stat line might not have showed everything he did, but he had command of the huddle, leadership. And we walked away from that game excited.
“Last week, he had some development in the pass game. There were some things we need to clean up, but he’s taking leadership of the quarterback position. And when he’s in the huddle, he has full command. And the players responded to that.”
On Tuesday, a couple of Michigan players said that they wanted to see Orji take over the game, but what does that look like?
He has the leadership skills and the physical attributes. But Campbell says he has to put that all together in order to reach his full potential. And once he can do that and be consistent, Campbell is sure that Orji will be a bona fide weapon for the maize and blue.
“The best way to get better at football is play more football. The more you play, the better you get,” Campbell said. “We practice a lot of football plays. There’s things he was doing in practice that weren’t shown up in games that we’d coach him through in the game, and he got through it there at the end. The reps are invaluable. The more reps you get, you’re either going to get better, or you stay the same. We’ve got to make sure that we continue to progress. I thought he did throughout that week.
“Quite frankly, we’re one throw in the last game from being 31-3, and it’s a much different situation. The point of emphasis I made to him is every rep counts. You can’t take one off. You can’t slightly make that mistake. Every rep counts, especially at this level. You’re playing good teams no matter who they are in the Big Ten. We’ve just got to make sure we execute on every single snap. You’re going to make errant throws, but they can’t just go to the other team. You’ve got to make sure we can catch them or nobody can catch them.”
One criticism that persists after the Minnesota game is Michigan’s lack of using Orji in designed running plays. Yes, he scrambles and all, but Campbell sees more opportunity for him in that regard, but he says Orji needs to do more with even his read-option plays. Because given Michigan’s weapons in the run game — Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards, –when Orji carries the ball, he’s taking reps away from them.
“I think that’s a catch-22. If Alex is really involved in the run game, you’re taking the ball out of Kalel’s hands a lot,” Campbell said. “But there’s opportunities that perceived maybe that might not be to the public that he is reading an extra defender and now we’re using them in conflict and Kalel’s getting the run. We are doing more of that than you’d probably think.
“But yeah, Alex is a huge part of it. Obviously, (against) USC, picked up a bunch of third downs for us with his legs. Last week he did one in the pass game. I called pass and he ran it. But yeah, he’s important. He’s got to be used in the run game. We tried to use it twice on third down. Neither one netted any success. So it’s not as simple as just saying yeah, you’re going to run him. We’ve got to go execute the call as well. He’s done a good job. He’s got to do a better job.”