Sherrone Moore says Alex Orji 'made some steps in the right direction' in win over Minnesota

Trent Knoop | Sep 30, 2024

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, right, talks to quarterback Alex Orji (10) and running back Kalel Mullings (20) after 27-24 win over USC at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If you want to be as optimistic as possible, there was a marginal improvement for the Michigan passing game in the Week 5 win against Minnesota compared to the USC win. Alex Orji threw for 86 yards against the Gophers which was more than his 32 yards against the Trojans. But the Wolverines are still very much a one-dimensional offense and all the blame doesn't just go on the quarterback.

As head coach Sherrone Moore put it on Monday, there is an offensive battery that revolves around the quarterback, the offensive line, and the wide receivers. All three need to play better -- Moore says he has to do a better job himself -- but he was happy with the progress Orji made from USC to Minnesota.

"Work in progress," Moore said of the Michigan offense. "Gotta get better. Gotta continue to strive to get better. Starts with me and how I organize practice and things we can do to help them. And we'll continue to do that to get better. But [Alex] Orji did some really good things and improved. Went through some progressions, which was good to see. Gotta continue improving in that aspect. And then, you know, we gotta get open for them, too. And we gotta protect, so it's a whole part thing. It's a team thing."

The one thing you've been able to hang your hat on about Orji is the ball security. Orji doesn't throw the ball into harm's way, usually throws the ball away if needed, and can tuck the ball and run with it. But on Saturday, Orji had an open Donovan Edwards streaking up the sideline but stayed with his first target -- tight end Colston Loveland. In fairness, Loveland was open. If he hits Loveland on his back shoulder it's a reception, but Orji threw to the inside of Loveland and Minnesota picked him off.

Moore touched on the interception, but also gave Orji credit for doing a better job of going through his progressions.

"Yeah, I mean, the interception, if it's a little to the right, it's not a thing," said Moore. "Colston will tell you he's got to help him, but we also probably need to progress on, and we have Donovan on the sideline. So those things are football. That's going to happen. But he made some steps in the right direction, progressing all the way to a backside dig was huge, which we haven't done here in a long time. So it was good for him to do that and make a nice across throw to the field, to Kendrick, and do some things around the pocket. So he's making the steps needed, and we'll continue to push him."

How can Michigan help Orji improve? There are plenty of things the coaches can do to help the young quarterback, but the Wolverines also need their receivers to help. Through five weeks, there is only one Michigan wide receiver who has more than 10 catches and that's Semaj Morgan who has 12. The Michigan receiving corps has a hard time creating separation. Moore says as a whole, they need to do a better job of helping both Orji and the receivers.

"Yeah, I think there's two pieces," started Moore. "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."

Michigan will face Washington on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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