What will Michigan Football’s offense look like under new quarterback Alex Orji?
“Hail Yes!” hosts Tony Garcia and Rainer Sabin discuss what the Michigan football team’s offense will look like with Alex Orji at the helm.
All hope seemed lost.
The two-touchdown lead had evaporated and the offense had lost the ball five times in a row or lost it three times early in the second half. Even the highly praised defense, which had made so many timely stops, let a Touchdown on third and 16. to give up the lead in the fourth.
But then Kalel Mullings came to the rescue. After UM had gained only 23 yards in 15 plays in the second half, Michigan’s powerful running back ripped a 53-yard runfought his way through the USC defenders and entered the USC red zone with two minutes left.
From there, he fought his way to the eight-yard line with 1:17 left to play and made it to the first and last attempt with the clock ticking down under a minute. Then, with 41 seconds left, Mullings slashed his way home Fourth and goal behind Max Bredeson as Michigan won its Big Ten opener 27-24 at Michigan Stadium in a beautiful late afternoon battle in Ann Arbor.
Before Mulling’s long run, this moment seemed almost impossible. Just minutes earlier, Donovan Edwards had lost the ball in Michigan’s own territory, putting USC in the red zone. Three plays later, Miller Moss found Ja’Kobi Lane on third-and-16 for a 24-yard touchdown.
Michigan’s next drive ended with an Alex Orji turnover, a Kalel Mullings recovery and then a sack, but UM’s defense was able to get the ball back for their offense with one last stop.
The Wolverines made a change at quarterback this week, opting for the mobile Orji with the goal of minimizing turnovers, maximizing time of possession and earning a win.
However, the passing game was never successful, as Orji completed 7 of 12 passes over a distance of 32 yards and was sacked twice.
Turbulent second half
For most of the afternoon, the game never looked like it was in danger. Michigan led 14-3 early in the third quarter when the Trojans began a 12-play, 75-yard run and scored on third-and-9 attempts from Michigan’s five to pull within four points.
After a three-and-out by UM, USC had the ball and the momentum and a chance to take the lead when it looked like Michigan was going to turn the game around for good. On third-and-3, Will Johnson leapt over a curl route and carried the interception 42 yards the other way for a pick-six that put Michigan ahead by 10 yards after the extra point.
That kept USC in the game even more than it already felt, and three plays later, the Trojans’ Woody Marks — who ran for five yards six times in the first half — ran up the middle for a 65-yard run for first down and goal. Marks finished the game with 13 100-yard runs.
It seemed like Michigan had another stop when Josiah Stewart Miller Moss took the ball on third down and Kenneth Grant ran with it, but then it was taken away again and USC came alive.
Two plays later, Moss found Jay Fair for a 16-yard touchdown to tie the game at 20-17 late in the third quarter. Moss finished the day completing 25 of 45 passes for 258 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Michigan’s offense is a story of two halves
Things went smoothly for Michigan from the start, even though the game plan was fairly simple. The Wolverines wanted to win the battle for possession, stay in manageable yardages, and keep USC’s powerful attack on the sidelines. So they ran, then they ran again, then they ran some more.
Although the Wolverines didn’t have quite as much traction as they did last year at Penn State when running the game’s final 32 plays, they ran 27 times compared to seven pass attempts in the first half, and nearly every one was successful at some point.
It started with Mullings, who was only inches ahead after a 4th-and-1 attempt near the halfway line, and ran 53 yards with 3:10 left in the first quarter to open the score at 7-0. Then it was Edwards’ turn. After managing just 12 yards on his first seven carries, he finally found a gap in the second quarter and ran 41 yards almost unchallenged to give the Wolverines a 14-0 lead.
Mullings finished with 17 carries for 159 yards and two scores, while Edwards finished with 14 carries for 74 yards and a score but a near-costly turnover.
Even Orji had some early success. The 6’3″, 235-pound junior had five yards or more on six of his seven touches and converted four first downs with his legs on just seven attempts in the first two quarters. Even his wide receiver Fred Moore managed a 14-yard end-around to spread the defense and open up lanes up the middle.
After halftime, that all seemed to change, as Michigan’s first three drives all ended in three-and-outs and gained just seven yards, the fourth possession was a fumble, and the fifth possession backfired.
That is, until the sixth possession changed the course of the season for Michigan.
