Michigan makes right decision playing quarterback Brandon Peters

Redshirt freshman Brandon Peters took over at quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, a move that could benefit both the present and future.

After suffering through seven weeks of miserable offense, Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines finally decided it was time for a change.

Despite returning the fewest starters in FBS, Michigan opened the 2017 season at No. 11 in the AP Poll and had Big Ten title aspirations following a 4-0 start that included a win over Florida. Since then, the Wolverines have been stunned by rival Michigan State at home, barely scraped by Indiana in overtime, and destroyed by Penn State 42-13 to fall out of the AP Poll.

The problem has been a terrible offense that hasn’t put up much production even in Michigan’s victories this year. Michigan is averaging 25.1 points per game to rank 92nd in the country on a miserable 4.9 yards per play, and turned the ball over five times in the loss to the Spartans.

While there are new starters all over the place, the most glaring weakness for the Wolverines has been under center. Senior Wilton Speight regressed heavily from his decent 2016 numbers before suffering three fractured vertebrae in a win over Purdue on Sep. 23, and backup John O’Korn has managed one touchdown to four interceptions on 6.6 yards per attempt.

With his team struggling mighty against Rutgers on Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh decided he had seen enough. Michigan made the switch to redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Peters, who promptly guided the Wolverines on a go-ahead touchdown drive.

Fans were pleased to see Peters take over, as many wanted to see the move happen even when Michigan was 4-0.

Peters is a four-star redshirt freshman quarterback out of Indiana who had all of one career pass on his resume before entering Saturday’s contest against Rutgers. Ranked as one of the top pro-style quarterbacks in the class of 2016, Peters is expected to be the starter next season with Speight and O’Korn set to leave.

Despite the gaudy ranking in the preseason AP Poll, this was always going to be a rebuilding year of sorts for the Wolverines. Expecting a team that returned just five starters to compete with Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin is unfair, and Michigan can even be happy with how its defense has played given all the offeseason turnover.

The loss to Penn State knocked Michigan out of the College Football Playoff race, and it would take a miracle to win the Big Ten or make the New Year’s Six at this point. Michigan has nothing to lose by going to Peters, who can gain experience ahead of what could be a special 2018 campaign.

While fans have understandably wanted this move for weeks, the timing also makes sense for Michigan. Starting Peters in the intimidating whiteout last weekend at Beaver Stadium could have been terrible for his confidence, and the driving rainstorm during the Michigan State loss made for terrible conditions for any quarterback.

A home game against Rutgers is a much lower pressure environment, and Peters promptly led a pair of touchdown drives. If Peters goes on to really struggle over the next few weeks, Michigan can begin to think about highly rated recruits Dylan McCaffrey or Joe Milton taking over in 2018.

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If Peters develops into an above average quarterback, the Wolverines will be national championship contenders in 2018 or 2019. Michigan has nothing to lose by starting Peters for the rest of the season, and the invaluable experience could be a big boost in the future.