ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Not many are giving Michigan football much of a chance to compete against Texas in Week 2, despite having won the national championship last year. And much of that is due to the personnel losses mixed with how the offense looked in Week 1.
But Fox Sports analyst Brady Quinn doesn’t think it’s as much of a conundrum as many seem to.
The former Notre Dame quarterback met with us at the ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ set the afternoon before the Wolverines host the Longhorns and we asked him about how Davis Warren performed, the two quarterbacks who are likely to see action, what he saw from the offense, and what it’s like to play quarterback against a Wink Martindale-led defense.
What he saw out of Davis Warren in Week 1
It could be a combination of things. I think the first thing is when you look at kind of spreading the field more horizontally, like that could be a byproduct of your own personnel. Could be scheme-based, maybe what the defense, like Fresno State was presenting you at that point in time, what the quarterback excels at, what he feels comfortable with. So there’s a bunch of reasons for it. I think at the end of the day, though, Davis did a really good job first start, he seems to be the guy that probably feels most comfortable with the system, and everything that he’s being asked to run, which is why he’s gonna play the bulk of the amount of shares, unless they’re keeping some stuff back because they didn’t want to show it before they have to play Texas in Week 2. So that’s always that wild card. You don’t really know, though.
Why did Warren do a great job in his mind?
I think Michigan does a great job. They’ve always kind of done this. I mean, even going back when I was young, growing up watching guys like Tom Brady, they have tremendous footwork. They know how to kind of run that pro-style system. So, take the snap from the center, a sense of timing and rhythm, and throwing with anticipation. You can tell he already has good chemistry with Loveland, the tight end. So those things were pretty apparent just in one game’s time. And so now just really comes down to him continuing to develop, allowing some people to emerge kind of on the outside. And usually, that takes just more game experience playing with guys and having some of those breakout moments where you both become more confident in each other when you’re out there on the game field.
Playing two quarterbacks
I think the first thing is, is when you come to those critical junctures in the game, who is going to be the one to take the snap to run that play? It’s gonna be Davis Warren. It’s gonna be Alex Orji. How much of that is dependent upon the flow of the game, what the situation is, fourth-and-1? You’re probably thinking, Alex, let him go run. If it’s critical, third down, third-and-7 or eight, probably more Davis Warren. So sometimes that’s dictated by that.
But I think the most difficult thing to take into account when you have two quarterbacks out there is all other 10 guys have to adjust. So the way the play call comes in, the cadence, what it sounds like when I’m barking at the lineman or trying to change stuff, the timing and rhythm we talked about. Obviously, with Davis Warren as compared to Alex, all those things are different. And so everyone else has to adjust, not even mentioning the coaching staff as well. And oftentimes that can become a little bit of a burden. And I think the inflection point will be when you’re faced with adversity. Wwho do the guys in locker room look to? They look at Alex Orji or do they look at Davis Warren? Can they make it copacetic? Or you’re looking at both, and it’s one voice. It’s not impossible, but it’s harder to make that work.
J.J. McCarthy wasn’t necessarily asked to overtake a game…
I would argue this, though: when he was asked to step up and make a play, he did. And I think that more than anything else, over the past two years, what stood out to me, and that’s what really Davis Warren and Alex Orji are tasked with. And even Sherrone Moore, for that matter. They need a guy behind center who, yeah, he may not be asked to do everything, like you see in some of their offenses in college football, but when he is called upon to make a play, he has to deliver. J.J. did that over the past two years, and that’s, I think, the tough part for Davis Warren and Alex Orji, and even Sherrone Moore. One of those two has to step up and prove that they can in that moment
How does Michigan beat Texas?
I think they have to control the line of scrimmage. That’s the biggest thing. This Texas team, I think they appear to be one of the top teams based on their roster, how they’ve recruited, developed, and obviously hit the transfer portal hard in college football. My question really is, like, how physical are they up front? You know, they lost to T’Vondre Sweat, who’s mammoth of a man to the NFL. Same thing with Byron Murphy — was a really impactful player. Those two interior losses are huge to that defense. And Michigan’s a team that’s prided itself on running the football in a variety of ways. And I think if they continue to keep their identity on defense, keeping this a low-scoring game, they’re able to run the football and limit the possessions that Ewers and Texas has, you’re looking at a formula I think that really breeds success, I think for Michigan, moving forward, maintaining that identity.
On Wink Martindale
I was around him in Denver. Wink Martindale is the flipping man. I hope he hears this, because I loved him. Every player he’s played for him has loved him. He loves to bring pressure. You know he’s the type of defense coordinator where he’s got a Rolodex of things he’s going to do every game. There’s be something different. He’s going to exploit a weakness in your pass protection or something that he sees.
You go back to last week, at times, you’re seeing them blitz the back. You’re seeing some of the field pressures. Those are things that he’s always gonna have, wrinkles in every single week. And so as a quarterback, man, you gotta have your head on swivel, and you gotta really be on top of not only going into the different game plan you’re gonna see from him, maybe than what he showed last week, for example, for Fresno State, but also the adjustments he makes throughout the course of the game.
Working against Martindale’s defense pre-snap
It’s really hard because your job as a quarterback is to make good decisions in two and a half seconds, right? Like, once that ball is snapped, whatever you were thinking pre-snap, you got to confirm it, or you got to flip what you were thinking and adjust and know where your quick answers are or your solutions are, or be able to make a play with your legs. And that’s so much easier said than done. The crowd plays a huge part in that because it’s so loud and so communication becomes difficult. So you got to get guys on the same page. That’s really hard to do, and talking about again, seconds before the snap of the football, where (the team) wants to play a snap. So it’s difficult, man. Like I said, he throws the kitchen sink at you, and he’s got to deal with it.
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This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Brady Quinn much higher on the Michigan football offense in advance of Texas game
