Big Ten Daily (Aug. 27): Michigan Still Not Settled on QB Situation

There's a two-man quarterback battle between Alex Orji and Davis Warren in Ann Arbor. Who will take the first snaps for Michigan in the 2024 season?

Dustin Schutte | Aug 27, 2024

Blue Team quarterback Alex Orji (10) makes a pass / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Michigan coach Sherrone Moore doesn't feel any pressure to make a decision on the quarterback situation just yet. With a few days remaining until the Wolverines open their season against Fresno State, he's letting Alex Orji and Davis Warren continue to battle.

Moore met with reporters on Monday as Michigan prepares to play Fresno State on Saturday night in Ann Arbor (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC). There's still been no word on who will start under center for the Maize and Blue.

"We're close. We'll figure that out soon, though," Moore said. "We're in a good place."

The Wolverines are replacing multi-year starter J.J. McCarthy, who led the program to a 15-0 record and a national championship last season. Both Orji and Warren have played in nine games over the last season, but the number of meaningful snaps has been limited.

Depending on how the competition unfolds in the final week of practice, there's a chance Michigan plays two quarterbacks when it opens the year against Fresno State. Moore said he's willing to do whatever it takes to win football games.

"'I've seen it work. I've seen it not work," Moore said. "We're just going to do whatever it takes to win. I don't think there's really a yes or no, what's better, what's not. Go back (to when Florida won a national championship with) Tim Tebow and Chris Leak. Worked out pretty well for them. But there are teams that have done it and it hasn't worked out well."

There's also a chance that we're seeing gamesmanship from Moore. Perhaps the staff has already made a final decision on the starter and Moore is keeping the answer close to the vest. On Monday, he suggested that it won't be known until "Friday or right before the game."

It's hard to know whether or not Michigan has actually settled on its quarterback situation. Either way, Moore believes his team can win with either guy under center.

"I think you just have to figure out what their strengths are, which we've done in camp," Moore said. "There's a menu of stuff we can do with each guy. It's not like both of them can't throw or both of them can't run. We just do it differently with different guys in the game."

Fickell provides unfortunate update on Thompson

Luke Fickell had some disappointing news to share during his weekly press conference on Monday. James Thompson Jr., one of Wisconsin's top defensive linemen, is likely out for the season.

Thompson underwent surgery for an upper-body injury. While Fickell didn't get into the specifics of the situation, he sounded pessimistic about the possibility of the lineman returning in 2024.

"It doesn't look like James is probably going to make it," Fickell said. "I don't know that we'll have him for the year. There's a lot of things that are still, we've got to wait and see. I don't know if it's a four- to five-month thing."

Thompson was expected to have a big role for the Badgers in the trenches this season. Last year, he made 11 starts and was responsible for 29 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.

Over the last two seasons, Thompson started in 18 games. Although he won't be on the field, he'll find a new way to have an impact for Wisconsin this year.

"Now he'll be in a little bit of a different role for us this year," Fickell said.

Rutgers "banged up" after fall camp

All offseason, Rutgers has been one of the darlings of the college football conversation. The Scarlet Knights return four starting offensive linemen, several key contributors defensively and Big Ten leading rusher Kyle Monangai. Plus, the schedule is incredibly beneficial.

But there's already a major hurdle standing in Rutgers' way. Coach Greg Schiano says the team is "banged up" coming out of fall camp.

"We're a little beat up — I told you I'm not going to get into all the specifics, but you'll see some young faces out there that you haven't seen play before," Schiano said. "We're just going to have to work our way through it."

One of the big losses was linebacker Mohamed Toure, who suffered a season-ending injury in fall camp. But if there's a silver lining for Schiano and his team, there's no other player who sustained an injury that will keep them sidelined for the year.

"We've got to get our guys ready to go. We're a little short-handed, that's a fact," Schiano said. "But we've got to figure out a way to go score one more (point)."

Rutgers opens the season on Thursday, Aug. 29 against Howard (6 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network).

Fickell provides unfortunate update on Thompson

Rutgers "banged up" after fall camp

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