Michigan can fix offensive woes by starting Brandon Peters
The Michigan Wolverine offense might be able to turn their season around by changing their starting quarterback, again.
The 2017 season has been a roller coaster for the Michigan Wolverines when it comes to the quarterback position. Coming off a good 2016 performance, Wilton Speight started the season, and while not doing well, he was only pulled after going down with a cracked vertebrae in Week 4 against Purdue.
John O’Korn came in relief against Purdue and shined, but despite the optimism, that was his only impressive performance. He struggled against Michigan State, Indiana, Penn State, and Rutgers, throwing 705 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions in those games.
Against Rutgers last Saturday, Jim Harbaugh made the decision to move on from O’Korn and put in redshirt freshman Brandon Peters. Peters came in and did well against Rutgers, throwing 10/14 for 124 yards and a touchdown. He was the quarterback fans wanted. When O’Korn was pulled and Peters was put in, the crowd was roaring with cheers as Peters took over.
After the game, Harbaugh led the media to believe that Peters would be the starting quarterback after the win against Rutgers, but his tone changed on Tuesday. Harbaugh told reporters:
"We’re going to try to really build on what Brandon did in the ballgame. We’re going into this game, we’re going to prepare both quarterbacks. Brandon is definitely going to play. The 51 percent would be on the side of him starting."
If Harbaugh wants to win games, he needs to start Peters at quarterback. Peters being in at the position seemed to give the offense life. The offensive line hasn’t been impressive this year, but they held their blocks and created running lanes for the running backs once Peters stepped in. Now, sure you could say this was against Rutgers, a team that has struggled since joining the Big Ten, but it’s a good sign of change.
Michigan’s offense hasn’t been what they once were. They were never a high scoring machine, but they could sustain drives and score points. They lost many seniors due to the draft and young guys replaced them, but it still shouldn’t be this much of a struggle. Offensive coordinator Tim Drevno was under fire for his performance against Michigan State and was on the sideline for the first time this season against Rutgers, which Harbaugh said won’t change this week.
Michigan’s passing game remains a weakness, as they are ranked 104th in the NCAA in passing offense, with only five passing touchdowns and seven interceptions. The running game has improved though, as they are ranked 38th in the NCAA in rushing offense, with 1,547 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. Overall the offense is ranked 88th in the NCAA.
Peters can fix that and, with his passing game being better than O’Korn’s, it gives the running game more chances to gain yardage. They have struggled running the ball at times because the opposing defense expects and, with a struggling quarterback in O’Korn, they knew Harbaugh didn’t want him to turn it over.
Peters was able to make the defense wonder if the play was a run or a pass, giving the offense life for the first time since the beginning of the season. (Losing star wide receiver Tarik Black was a blow to the passing game, and with Speight struggling it seemed like the offense was never in-check.)
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If Harbaugh sticks with Peters as his starting quarterback, he will take on the P.J. Fleck-led Minnesota Golden Gophers as they battle for the Little Brown Jug on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m.