No. 24 Michigan is expected to start its third quarterback of the season versus No. 22 Illinois on Oct. 19. Head coach Sherrone Moore said on the “Inside Michigan Football” coaches show that he expects Jack Tuttle to get the nod after the Wolverines’ bye week.
“I think right now he gives us the best chance to win,” Moore said, via On3.com. “And we’ll continue to process that as an offense, as a team, but that looks like the direction we’re heading.”
Tuttle made his first appearance of the season in last Saturday’s matchup against Washington. He took over midway through the second quarter after starter Alex Orji was ineffective, completing 3-of-7 passes for 15 yards and rushing for only 11 on three carries.
Michigan HC Sherrone Moore expects Jack Tuttle will start at QB against Illinois. Via “Inside Michigan Football”:
“I think right now he gives us the best chance to win. We’ll continue to process that as an offense, as a team, but that looks like the direction we’re heading.” pic.twitter.com/dKxVeZqXDr
— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) October 7, 2024
The seventh-year senior led Michigan to its first touchdown, cutting the Huskies’ lead to 14-7 by leading a seven-play, 75-yard drive. Donovan Edwards finished off the possession with a 39-yard scoring run. Tuttle completed one pass for five yards and rushed twice for 14 yards on the drive.
Tuttle completed 10-of-18 passes for 98 yards, one touchdown and one interception in Michigan’s 27-17 loss to Washington.
The Wolverines began their season with Davis Warren starting the first three games at quarterback. But after the senior threw three interceptions against Arkansas State, he was benched for Orji. Moore then tabbed Orji to start versus then-No. 11 USC and he led Michigan to a 27-24 comeback win despite throwing for only 32 yards on 7-of-12 passing.
Moore opted to stay with Orji as Michigan beat Minnesota the next week, even though the junior was still ineffective throwing the football (10-of-18 for 86 yards) and the Wolverines’ offense was glaringly one-dimensional.
However, Michigan finally had to make a change when it fell behind 14-0 to Washington and needed to move the ball down the field with some passing. Though Tuttle lost a fumble and threw an interception to end two late possessions for the Wolverines, the offense appeared to be far more effective and at least had a threat of a passing game with him under center.
“I thought, offensively, definitely Jack Tuttle came in there and gave us a huge spark, and that was the positive,” Moore added. “The first few drives — touchdown, field goal, touchdown. He gave us a lot of momentum on offense. And he’s beating himself up still. I had to call him last night and tell him, ‘Hey, we got your back, you’re good.’ He only practiced for a week and a half, really.”
Tuttle returned to Michigan for a seventh season of eligibility after his application for a medical redshirt was approved by the NCAA. In 21 games over six seasons, he threw for 1,031 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 59% of his passes.
He appeared to be the favorite to start when J.J. McCarthy left for the NFL after the Wolverines finished the 2023-24 season as national champions. However, an injury to his right (throwing) elbow suffered last season kept him out of spring practice and he hadn’t yet recovered by the start of the 2024 campaign.