Michigan QB Wilton Speight is out for the season

Michigan’s playoff hopes were dealt a heavy blow when it was announced that starting quarterback Wilton Speight broke his collarbone and is out for the year.

Coming into Week 11, Michigan was the best team in the Big Ten. But as if its loss to Iowa was bad enough, Jim Harbaugh started out the day by saying Wilton Speight was a game-time decision against Indiana. A few hours later, his status was upgraded:

That means Michigan will have to travel to the Horseshoe and play Ohio State without their starting signal caller. Coming into the season, quarterback was the one position that Michigan didn’t have a real answer for. They started out the year with a QB competition between Speight and John O’Korn, the latter of whom transferred from Houston.

While O’Korn has gotten a few reps so far, Speight has run away with the starting job. He started off as a pocket passer predominantly, but he started developing a deep ball, something that former Wolverine Devin Funchess praised him for:

He matured with each game, and has 15 touchdowns with just four interceptions on the season. Nobody’s under the impression he’s the best quarterback in the Big Ten — that title belongs to J.T. Barrett — but he was just as responsible for their 9-0 start as Jabrill Peppers.

Against Iowa’s strong defense, he struggled when he went 11-for-26 for just 103 yards. He got sacked twice and threw an interception. But without him, their offense suffers immensely. They might have trouble getting their game going against Indiana, who have an underrated defense and pressured Trace McSorley often.

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While they stated that Speight could come back for Michigan’s bowl game, they had playoff aspirations coming into this season. It’s possible the Wolverines will rally around this loss — after all, Michigan State beat Ohio State last year with a backup quarterback. But it’s more likely that they’ll lose to their biggest rivals in Week 13 and miss the playoff.