Tag: Sherrone Moore

Sherrone Moore expecting Michigan football offense to innovate and evolve as season progresses

They’ve gotta get something going here. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Sherrone Moore has been preaching balance offensively, but thus far, it’s been anything but.

The offense has struggled, particularly in the second half, since Alex Orji took the helm as Michigan’s starting quarterback. The pass game has essentially been nonexistent, even before Orji took the reins. Thus, Michigan needs to find some ways to be innovative, both in playcalling as well as by formation.

One of the things Moore is looking to continue using is something fans and analysts (this site included) have advocated for — putting both Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings on the field at the same time. We saw the Wolverines use them both more, but with limited results due to missed assignments and failed execution.

However, Moore says you can expect to see them both in on the same play more often as the season moves forward.

“Yeah, we’ll continue to use it,” Moore said. “Obviously Donovan has a skill set that we’re going to use, and I felt it just put some eye candy, put some things on the defense. I have to think about a lot of things with both those guys on the field. So, definitely keep evolving that. There’s plays that we’ve ran in the past, plays that we’ve practiced, that we’ve never used, and we’ll start to pull those out as the season goes starting this week.”

Michigan has gone away from using Edwards heavily in the pass game, which is surprising considering how he broke onto the scene back in 2021. Long discussed as Michigan’s best pass-catcher, Edwards had 170 yards against Maryland in his freshman year. He had some key receiving touchdowns in his sophomore year before an appendage injury stymied his production on that front.

Either way, the maize and blue need to find a way to make things easier for the wide receiver corps, which has struggled mightily thus far. Through five games, the wideouts have 28 catches for 212 yards and two touchdowns. Compare that to tight end Colston Loveland, who didn’t play in Week 4, who has 23 catches for 228 yards and one touchdown.

Moore extrapolated why the receivers have struggled and what the team needs to do to improve on that front.

“I think there’s two pieces,” Moore said. “There’s route detail. So in every little route, there’s a depth. There’s a release that you’ve got to take. So we’ve got to do a better job than that. But also, as a collective, we’ve got to make sure we put all those guys in position to run the best routes that they run. And that will help them. And I think we’re going to be doing that this week.”

It will be a tall task this week given that the Wolverines are going up against another top-rated pass defense in Washington. The past opponent, Minnesota, is the No. 1 pass defense nationally (already having had one of the top units in the country before playing Michigan) and the Huskies aren’t far behind at No. 6.

Regardless, Moore says that balance is possible, the team just has to get there.

“Yeah, I think we can get the balance, and we’ll just continue to work at it.”

Sherrone Moore updates Michigan football growing injury list before Washington

Well, this is positive news. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It didn’t take long, but Michigan football went from being an extremely healthy team to one that’s extremely banged up.

The Wolverines were pretty much at full strength against USC in Week 4, but entering and leaving Week 5 against Minnesota was a different story entirely.

Will Johnson and Josaiah Stewart were injured against the Trojans. Myles Hinton, the starting left tackle, was injured this past weekend against the Gophers. Head coach Sherrone Moore was confident, however, that they, along with wide receiver Semaj Morgan, will all be back this week for the trip to Seattle to face Washington.

“Yeah, they’re all working through something,” Moore said. “Myles (is) working through something, came out of the game, probably could have went back in, but held them out. And Josaiah and Will look like they’ll be in good shape for this week.”

Another player who left last week’s game against Minnesota was safety Makari Paige. Given that Rod Moore, Wesley Walker, and Jaden Mangham were all unavailable, that meant that the Wolverines were really starting to dig into the bench at the safety position. Though second-year safety Brandyn Hillman came in and played well with Paige out, behind him, there’s little that’s good to go on at the position.

However, Moore expects that Paige will be fine to make the trip to Seattle and play against the Huskies.

“He’ll be good,” Moore said. “I think he’s just working through something, and he’ll be in good shape to go.”

Moore did clarify on some of the others who haven’t played. He says that cornerback Ja’Den McBurrows may be a little more long-term but Walker should be back soon and that Mangham isn’t injured, he’s dealing with something off the field.

“McBurrows will be out,” Moore said. “Mangham, he’s working through something off the field. He could possibly come back. (Walker is) working through something, but he’s not long-term, no.”

Michigan and Washington are set to kick off at Husky Stadium at 4:30 p.m. PDT with the game nationally broadcast on NBC.

Sherrone Moore assesses the Michigan football pass game and what it needs to do

Even if it didn’t look like it, it took a step forward on Saturday. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football fans are somewhat in uproar over the state of the offense after five weeks. Which, after winning the national championship with J.J. McCarthy at the helm, it makes sense that the expectations have risen. But the path is there for the Wolverines to improve offensively, it just seems like something is missing on a play-by-play basis.

Michigan switched streams midseason, after having started Davis Warren at quarterback, moving in Week 4 to dual-threat Alex Orji. As a result, the offense has changed its dynamic. It might look worse in some regards, but in many ways, the upcoming Washington game is more like Week 3 of the season than Week 6.

Head coach Sherrone Moore noted on Monday that Orji is doing some good things, but it’s the whole battery of the passing game operation that needs to improve — the quarterback, the pass protection, and the wide receivers.

“It’s a work in progress. Got to get better,” Moore said. “Got to continue to strive to get better. Starts with me, how I organize practice and things we can do to help them. And we’ll continue to do that to get better.

“But Orji did some really good things and improved. Went through some progressions, which was good to see. Got to continue improving in that aspect. And then, we got to get open for him too, and we got to protect. So it’s a whole part thing, it’s a team thing.”

Whether it’s in the pass game or the run game, while it might not look good on a down-by-down basis, the offense in some respects is back to square one. It’s running a different set of plays than it had under Warren now that Orji is the QB. And like in the first couple of weeks, when it started to get better, we’re seeing one missed assignment on offense upending a more creative playcalling package.

“For us as a group, as a unit, whether it’s offense, whether it’s defense, we gotta play 11 as one,” Moore said. “We can’t have the one guy be wrong and — on defense, you can do that, because one guy can make a play. On offense, you can’t. So we got to continue to, not simplify, but make everything come collective so that those guys can get a hone on what we’re doing and be really good at it. And we’re definitely taking steps forward to do that.”

Moore is confident that everything will click as the weeks go on. Former coach Jim Harbaugh used to often note you can’t teach experience and now Orji is getting his first real taste of being the starting quarterback for a college football team. As are the new offensive linemen and wide receivers.

As Orji continues to understand the speed of the game, Moore is sure that he’ll become much more productive.

“The best thing for guys is experience, especially at the quarterback spot,” Moore said. “So those guys get experience, they get better. They take steps forward. So look forward for him to take a step forward this week.”

Orji has another chance to notch a win with a road trip to Washington this week. The game will take place at Husky Stadium and will kick off at 4:30 p.m. PDT.

Sherrone Moore updates Michigan football TE Colston Loveland status heading into Week 5

#Michigan absolutely needs him if it’s going to have any sort of pass game. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football didn’t exactly light the field up against USC in Week 4 through the air. In part, that was due to having a new starting quarterback, Alex Orji, as well as the focus being on the ground game. But the Wolverines were also missing one important piece: tight end Colston Loveland.

Widely thought of as the best tight end in college football, Loveland is a threat to catch the ball anywhere on the field on any given play. He is easily the Wolverines’ best downfield threat. With Loveland out, that threat was mostly neutralized this week.

There was some drama leading up to the game. Though Loveland injured his shoulder against Arkansas State, but there had been a great deal of positive hype that he could be ready to go. However, two hours before the game against the Trojans, Loveland was ruled out.

On Monday, head coach Sherrone Moore said it’s too soon to know whether he’ll be able to play against Minnesota, but noted that he was close to being able to go last week against USC.

“Yeah, we’ll see. Doing better. Doing a lot better,” Moore said. “Was close to playing last Saturday but doctors felt that it would be in his best interest that he not. So we’re in a positive patch right now, so we’ll see.”

Despite missing last week, through four games, Loveland still has triple the number of yards as the next closest receiver, having reeled in 19 catches for 187 yards in three games. Semaj Morgan is the next closest, with 12 catches for 62 yards.

The passing game didn’t look good last week: Orji completed 7-of-12 passes for 32 yards. However, not having the sole threat in the middle of the field certainly hampered his and the offense’s limited ability to get the ball downfield through the air.

What Sherrone Moore wants to see from Alex Orji moving forward

They’re confident they’ll be able to add to his plate as weeks pass. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There’s been a lot of consternation surrounding Michigan football, even after unexpectedly beating the formerly 11th-ranked USC Trojans on Saturday, and much of it has to do with the state of the offense.

A lot of message board fodder has surrounded the question of Alex Orji’s viability at quarterback. After all, Michigan only had him attempt 12 passes on Saturday, and he only managed 32 yards through the air. But as the team moves forward, head coach Sherrone Moore insists that Orji will remain the starting quarterback moving forward and that he was pleased with his performance in Week 4.

“Alex will be the starter again and there’s definitely more to the game and more things that we have to complement for him and for the offense,” Moore said. “But I thought he did a good job, took care of the football for us, which was the No. 1 thing we wanted, and was a great team player. Did all the things we asked him. Ran it extremely hard when he asked him to, so proud of him, proud of his performance.”

To this point, Michigan had really only used Orji as a chess piece, brought in to run the ball. And when he was tasked with this, more often than not, he was successful. But now it’s an entirely different offense with him running point, as he’ll need to do more than he was previously asked to do.

Moore says that the Wolverines will gradually and continually add more to Orji’s plate as the weeks progress, but that the plan is for him to retain the starting position, so long as he takes care of the football.

“It was good to get that first experience as a starter and play, especially a big-time game and great atmosphere like it was on Saturday,” Moore said. “So yeah, there’s a good bit that we can add and things that we can do to complement the running game. And not that the running game was successful, but we want to be balanced. And we’ve had years in the past where we’ve had those games like that, that we’ve had to win like that, and not afraid to win like that, as long as we win. So we’ll definitely just keep rolling.”

Passing for just 32 yards is unordinary, but it’s no aberration. We’ve seen multiple Michigan games in the recent past where the Wolverines don’t attempt to do much, and don’t throw downfield.

That was the game plan this past week, as the offense didn’t often require Orji to make throws too far beyond the line of scrimmage. But as we’ve seen in previous years (like against Washington in 2021 with 44 yards passing, or last year against Penn State with 60 yards passing) that those types of games are situational.

Now, of course, there are some impediments. The receiving corps doesn’t often get open, and Colston Loveland was out vs. USC. But Michigan will need to find ways to do like Alabama did with Jalen Milroe (his first start came in 2022, when he was 12-for-19 for 111 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception against Texas A&M) by increasing his workload over time.

Moore says that Orji will get more adept in the passing game now that he has one full game under his belt and that he’s confident that the Wolverines will find ways to move the ball outside of the run game.

“Yeah, I think the continual confidence of being to start the second game — I think it’s huge, and there’s nothing like experience and continue to do it,” Moore said. “And he’s already a confident kid. But I think as you continue progressing, see that you can do it, you make those throws, you make those down-the-field throws, and do those things in practice, and then at least in the game, those will show up even more. So just ready for him to keep the confidence and keep the level of confidence up for him.”

Michigan and Sherrone Moore couldn’t find a good portal QB in 2024

Sherrone Moore couldn’t pivot and find a QB in the portal after Jim Harbaugh left. He should have done better, but it was also a complicated situation.

We are exploring the various dimensions of Michigan football before the Wolverines meet USC in the big one this Saturday in the Big House. Wolverines Wire editor Isaiah Hole is answering our questions. We asked him about Michigan’s and Sherrone Moore’s inability to land a quality quarterback in the transfer portal this offseason.

“I think they should have, but it was difficult to do so given the circumstances,” Hole said. “You have to remember that the transfer portal opened up and Michigan still had a lot to play for in the College Football Playoff, so it was somewhat limited when it came to courting talent from elsewhere. Jim Harbaugh then kept the program on the hook until late January and incumbent starter J.J. McCarthy didn’t decide to jump to the pros until mid-to-late January. Having late decisions from the former head coach and starting quarterback compound the ability to lure a player like Riley Leonard (who would have been a perfect fit for Michigan’s system) when he would have had no idea if he would be starting or playing for the head coach at the time. The bigger indictment was Michigan not recruiting a quarterback for two years, essentially. It was all-in on Dante Moore from the time he was in eighth grade. It was Moore’s first offer and he was coached by former Wolverine starter Devin Gardner, but it didn’t take into account that he wanted to head out of state. By the time Moore committed to Oregon (before flipping to UCLA and then transferring to Oregon), Michigan had no other options. The year before that, given that it had a couple of years with McCarthy, it didn’t really get involved with any blue chips (Orji and Jayden Denegal are from that class). It did get some good QBs in Jadyn Davis and 2024 commit Carter Smith (it whiffed on in-state five-star Bryce Underwood) but it was wholly unprepared for life beyond J.J. McCarthy. Or, more so, it wasn’t prepared for what would happen if Orji wasn’t up to the task – and we don’t know if he is or isn’t just yet.

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Michigan’s top offensive weapon may be out for Saturday vs USC

Michigan needs Colston Loveland, its elite tight end, on the field against USC, but his playing status is uncertain due to an injury.

Colston Loveland, Michigan’s 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior tight end, may not be available for the Wolverines’ upcoming matchup with the USC Trojans due to an undisclosed injury sustained in the second half of his game against Arkansas State.

Details regarding the nature, severity, and expected recovery time of his injury have yet to be released. During a press conference on Saturday, when questioned about Colston’s status and other injuries incurred during the game against the Red Wolves, the Michigan coaching staff refrained from providing specific information.

“We’ll see. We’ll just, you know, that’s why we have doctors,” head coach Sherrone Moore said, “so we’ll see what the doctors say. I think Colston left and then Myles (Hinton) just cramped up and then same thing with Rayshaun (Benny), so we’ll just see what the doctors say for further eval.”

Losing Loveland would be a huge blow to a Michigan offense that is struggling to find momentum and an identity in 2024.  His 19 receptions for 187 yards lead the team. He has been the one steady bright spot on that side of the ball this season.  If Loveland isn’t able to go Moore will turn to 6-foot-6, 250-pound junior Marlin Klein.  Klein replaced Loveland after he left he game and had three catches for 43 yards.

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Sherrone Moore updates Michigan football TE Colston Loveland injury before USC

Potentially good news here. #GoBlue

Michigan football fans held their collective breath when they saw star tight end Colston Loveland make his way to the locker room after apparently injuring his shoulder in the Week 3 contest against Arkansas State. Sherrone Moore has been mum about Loveland’s injury, stating earlier on Monday, ‘Yeah, no updates right now on Colston. We’ll just keep up the progress with the doctors and see where it goes from there.’

But later on Monday, on the Inside Michigan Football radio show, Moore was a little more optimistic about Loveland’s ability to potentially rebound and play in the Week 4 contest against USC.

“Colston is continuing to be evaluated,” Moore said. “It was less serious than we thought, so feel positively about that, but we’ll see as the week progresses.”

If Loveland isn’t able to go, we saw some positive things from a handful of tight ends against the Red Wolves on Saturday. Marlin Klein had a big catch downfield, showcasing that he has similar catching ability to that of Loveland. True freshman Hogan Hansen not only got his first catch but scored a touchdown and was looking for contact in the process.

The Wolverines have options, but potentially missing the best tight end in football would be suboptimal in such a big game that could potentially determine Michigan’s season.

Sherrone Moore breaks down challenges presented by USC Trojans

It’s going to be a huge game for #Michigan. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In the preseason, the expectation was that Michigan football had to be on the lookout for teams in Week 2 and again in the month of November. However, after USC beat LSU in Week 1 and demolished its Week 2 opponent, Utah State, convincingly and thoroughly, the Trojans have become a major team to contend with. All the while, the Wolverines haven’t exactly looked dominant at any point in 2024.

On Monday, Sherrone Moore gave his assessment of USC and its personnel, noting that Miller Moss, Zachariah Branch and Texas A&M transfer Anthony Lucas are the three players the Wolverines have their eyes on in preparation for Saturday.

“Obviously, the quarterback’s really good. I think the line is good,” Moore said. “No. 1, Branch, he’s explosive, twitchy, big playmaker. But on defense, I’d say No. 6, their defensive end, Lucas, he’s a game-wrecker that we’ve got to definitely have our eyes on.”

Lucas isn’t the only big-name transfer that’s bolstered the Trojans this and even last year. Bear Alexander was a big get in 2023 in the interior of the defensive line, coming from Georgia. Safety Akili Arnold, via Oregon State, has been solid at safety. Kyle Ford, the journeyman wideout who’s played at Illinois and UCLA, has already seen some production early on. RB Woody Marks, via Mississippi State, has had a solid start. LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, another via Oregon State, already has an interception. CB Greedy Vance came along from Florida State.

But where Moore sees the biggest change is in size in both of the trenches.

“Well, I’ve seen they’re a lot bigger, obviously. Up front, they are,” Moore said. “They’ve put on some size, some mass. They’ve got different guys in there. A bunch of transfers on the O-line. A lot of guys transferred from their defense.

“But they’re a good football team. I think Lincoln does an outstanding job with the team. He’s always been a great offensive lineman. I think Coach Lynn’s come in and brought in that defensive background, and they play really good defense, solid team defense. So, for us, it’s going to be penalty-free, take care of the football player and start the game.”

But, of course, the biggest factor in this game on Saturday will depend on what Michigan is able to do against quarterback Miller Moss.

Moss will be making his first true road start as the starting quarterback for the Trojans and Lincoln Riley will certainly look to make things easy for him in a similar fashion as to what Steve Sarkisian did for Quinn Ewers at Texas.

Moore gave his assessment of Moss’ production in the past two games and certainly sees there’s a lot that the Wolverines have to go up against.

“Yeah, really good football player,” Moore said. “Accurate, takes care of the football, plays well within the system. Not a runner by any means but definitely has good arm strength and has a lot of weapons around him and distributes it well. Plays well within the system. so he’s a really good player.”

Michigan and USC will kick off at 3:30 p.m. EDT at The Big House. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

Alex Orji named starting QB for Michigan football vs. USC

Here we go! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — What was expected in the preseason for Michigan football will soon be a reality.

The expectation all offseason was that Alex Orji would be the Wolverines starting quarterback but there was a late surprise when Davis Warren ended up beating him out. However, after throwing six interceptions in three games, head coach Sherrone Moore is making a change.

“Yeah, Alex will start on Saturday,” Moore said. “Excited for him. He’s been in here champing at the bit, so we’ll move on from there.”

Given Warren’s struggles, the move makes sense. But what has Orji done in order to get to a place where the staff trusts him to be the starting quarterback?

Moore says that Orji was good in camp and has a lot of intangibles, it’s just that Warren was performing a little better behind the scenes. But he has full confidence in Orji’s capability at running the offense.

“Yeah, just hitting the range, perform like he did in the first couple weeks of camp,” Moore said. “Like I said, thought he was in a really good place, and Davis outperformed him in camp at the end. And would love to see him take the reins and do what he’s been doing through those first couple weeks and think he will. He’s had a great couple weeks of practice. So has Davis, but obviously (Alex is) outperforming in the game, and excited to see what Alex is going to do. And he’s been in here, studying his tail off the past couple days, like he always is. But you can see it ramped up even more.”

Many think that Orji is basically a runner only. And given how he’s been deployed thus far, it’s a fair assessment.

Before this year, Orji had only attempted one pass, and he’s been hit or miss being asked to throw this year. He does have two touchdowns, both made on a bootleg to the right where he throws into the flat, but he missed a similar throw late in Week 1. Even so, Moore has full confidence in his arm.

“I mean, he can throw,” Moore said. “I mean, he didn’t connect on the deep ball, but you saw that he has the strength to let it go down there. So that takes timing, that throw. All about his footwork. People don’t know, like, if you don’t take the right footwork in your hips, then the ball gets overthrown. So for him, he knew exactly what he needs to fix. And he was out there yesterday throwing for an hour or so, tried to tell him, like, ‘Dude, you gotta rest. Gotta get to the game.’ So we’ll be ready to go.”