The annual Michigan spring game took place on Saturday. For the first time in the past four years they played a true, four quarter game and that came with much anticipation by the players, coaches, and fans alike. Of course, the most intriguing storyline of the game was the quarterback battle that has been fought all spring. Fans may not have gotten quite the answers they were looking for as none of the options truly stood out but they did show some flashes of brilliance which will give Michigan fans some hope as we head into the fall.
One of the most shocking aspects of the game was that redshirt freshman Wilton Speight did not see a single snap the entire game. For now, it looks like the battle is clearly between junior Shane Morris and true freshman Alex Malzone.
Morris, the Blue Team’s quarterback, had a bit of a slow start. He knows he has to impress being that he’s the guy who’s been there the longest so maybe it was nerves. He stuck to short check-downs early but threw a quick out route to the wide side of the field and that throw really showed off how accurate his arm was and helped him build a little confidence going forward.
Morris struggled though for much of the first half. He threw an interception that was deflected off the hands of his receiver and straight to the defense. Its hard to blame him for that but he drilled the ball in a tight window on a slant route. He needs to know when to control that arm strength. After a dull first half though, Morris got a little more comfortable in the pocket, started making his reads, and hitting his receivers. Even his incompletions looked good and considering the fact that he was throwing to guys he probably isn’t too accustomed to throwing to, I think its fair to say that Morris’ receivers failed him more than he failed them.
There were a couple instances where Morris demonstrated his ability to put the right amount of touch on the ball that, as I previously mentioned, needed work. It was third down and 30 yards to go, Morris took the snap and lofted a perfect ball for the first down. Later in that same possession Morris threw another fade route with perfect trajectory to find his man.
These flashes of brilliance gave hope to fans that Morris can be the man that brings Michigan back to the top tier of college football. He ended the game with 135 yards and one touchdown. Both of those numbers are higher than his previous career totals combined.
Malzone, much like Morris, struggled early. It was his first game in the Big House so nervousness were to be expected in his case. That coupled with the fact that he has only been throwing to his new teammates for 14 practices surely led to his overall underperformance.
He threw two picks, one of which can’t necessarily be blamed on him but the other surely was his fault. Staring down his target the entire time, Malzone didn’t see the linebacker sitting underneath the dig route he was trying to throw and threw it right to him. That was the only time he stared down his intended target during Saturday’s scrimmage though and he will need to break that habit by the time fall camp rolls around if he wants any chance of starting for the Wolverines in 2015.
Despite his struggles though, there were a couple instances in which Malzone showed his ability to be great. He has the knowledge to look through his progression and hit the check-down when nothing is available rather than trying to force a bad throw. That skill isn’t normally demonstrated by freshmen so that’s certainly a promising sign from Malzone. Overall, he didn’t have the best showing on Saturday and, to my surprise, was outplayed by Morris.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh said in his post-game interview that Shane Morris was now the leader in the quarterback battle according to the Detroit Free Press. This was the first time that Harbaugh has said anything of who the leader was and as a fan of Michigan football, it is a good first step in determining who will ultimately be the starter when the season begins. Based solely on performance today, I believe Morris is a better player than Malzone and he will start for the Wolverines in 2015.
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