Wounded Michigan Switches It Up For USC

USC heads to Michigan with ‘healthy respect’ for reigning champs – and QB Alex Orji

Orji, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound athlete, will present a host of challenges for a USC defense that has never seen him on tape outside of specially designed packages

Michigan quarterback Alex Orji breaks away from Ohio State linebacker Tommy Eichenberg during their game last November in Ann Arbor, Mich. Orji was named the starter this week and he presents an interesting, elusive challenge for USC’s defense when the teams square off on Saturday. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
MICH QB Alex Orji breaks away from OHIO ST LB Tommy Eichenberg last November in Ann Arbor, Mich. Orji was named the starter this week and he presents an interesting, elusive challenge for USC’s defense when the teams square off on Saturday. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Luca Evans (OC Register)  —  LOS ANGELES — Come Saturday, the man taking center stage at the Big House presents a riddle. Quite a few of them, actually. He is a 6-foot-3, 235-pound walking paradox who popped up on the “Freaks List” compiled by The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, a quarterback unlike anyone this USC defense has seen, a quarterback unlike anyone most anyone has seen.

He is also a relative national unknown, with tantalizing athleticism but almost no tape on his throwing arm, and USC’s Jamil Muhammad had to double-check his name Wednesday.

“We’re excited to play against somebody that’s elusive like – Alex, I believe he’s named?” said DE Muhammad. “Yeah. We’re excited to to play somebody that’s as elusive as him.”

Alex-I-believe-he’s-named would be Alex Orji, the sudden man of the hour in college football, a junior quarterback who has played 54 snaps of college football with the Wolverines and dropped back to pass exactly 10 of those times. He was a fairly quiet three-star recruit out of Texas, a kid who completed less than 50% of his passes during his senior year of high school, and yet was so respected as an athlete that he had drawn USC head coach Lincoln Riley’s attention back when the quarterback guru was at Oklahoma.

Orji is now Michigan’s starting quarterback, dubbed by head coach Sherrone Moore on Monday in a pivot from incumbent Davis Warren. And he is a calamity for game-planning purposes come Saturday, USC’s defense suddenly tasked with figuring out how to anticipate the balance of an entirely new midseason offense designed around a scrambling quarterback who could reasonably throw the football anywhere between 30 times and five times.

“I mean, he’s, you don’t play quarterback at this level without being able to throw the ball some,” Riley said Tuesday. “To sit there and think if he plays the entire game that they’re going to – run it 70 times and throw it one time, or something like that, I don’t think that’s going to be the case.”

And yet, there is the possibility he drops back, more than he’s ever shown on tape. As Lynn pointed out, all the film that exists from Orji’s time at Michigan has come as part of a specialty-designed package, where Orji has been inserted for plays here and there and run a heavy run-pass-option scheme. The No. 18 Wolverines could rely on that package, or throw it into a newly designed offense with a variety of wrinkles at No. 11 USC (2-0); Moore indicated a couple of weeks ago that Orji would pass more this season.

It’s a fascinating test for a USC defense that has thus far passed with straight A’s under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn. Muhammad asserted that the unit was “much better” with pre-snap communication in 2024, a facet that will be key in dissecting Michigan’s attack on Saturday. But Muhammad and linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold agreed that USC’s defensive looks and habits shouldn’t change based on the simple run-pass calamity presented by Orji.

“I don’t think we’re going to change any scheme,” Mascarenas-Arnold said. “Maybe mindset. Just understanding that – if he doesn’t like something, he has the ability to take off and run, and maybe make an explosive play.”

The buzzards have swirled around Michigan in the season’s early weeks, picking away at the carcass left behind by former coach Jim Harbaugh’s move to the NFL. But Muhammad agreed Wednesday, emphatically, with Riley’s assessment of not underestimating the reigning national champions.

They have a coach, in Moore, who knows how to win, as Muhammad emphasized. They have a host of defensive returners with title experience. And they have a quarterback, now, who presents a myriad of possibilities to account for.

“I think you just always gotta have a healthy respect for any opponent, but I mean, especially somebody who just came off of a national championship,” Muhammad said, “whether they lost everybody, or whether they’re having their quote-unquote struggles scoring, or whether they suck, or whatever people say.”

“Like, at the end of the day,” he continued, “last time I checked – we didn’t win a national championship. They did.”

ocregister.com

___________

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Chris
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Chris
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September 19, 2024 3:59 pm

50/50 Shohei is something else. I’ve watched a ton of baseball and he’s the best I’ve ever seen.

John Weld
Admin
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John Weld
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September 19, 2024 4:02 pm
Reply to  Chris

He makes it look so effortless. Too bad that the Dodgers can’t keep a single pitcher healthy. If I was Dodgers I would seriously be looking at the training staff as to why there are so many injuries.

Chris
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Chris
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September 19, 2024 4:10 pm
Reply to  John Weld

No kidding. It’s crazy how many have gone down.

Jamaica
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Jamaica
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September 19, 2024 2:53 pm

The football podcasters & writers trying to build up this idea Michigan is going to unleash this super Vince Young replica. If Orji was so awsome why didn’t he beat out a QB that threw more picks than TDs these last 3-games. Did HC Moore just sacrifice the Texas game to save Orji for USC? I’m not buying into it. Even Podcaster Josh Pate is predicting Michigan will win because it’s Michigan afterall. That is so weak! Wink Martindale and his blitzorama scheme sure didn’t slow down Texas offense. And if there is any offense similar to the longhorns it’s… Read more »

Trojanfanatic
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September 19, 2024 3:54 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

AW, you rarely go out on a limb at all with USC predictions, so you foreseeing this score spread Saturday takes the nervous edge off a little. Gotta be honest, I hate going against running QB’s. This dude is 6’3” 235, and supposedly the top 3 athlete on the team.
If they can dink and dunk short to medium passes, which we’ll have to lock on eventually, QB running wildly thins the “D” considerably. As we’ve seen with Caleb, they are usually long gainers.
Ok, I’ll take my anti anxiety meds until Saturday. Fight on !

Trojanfanatic
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Trojanfanatic
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September 19, 2024 4:49 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Agree, our D guys have a swagger backed up with explosive hits and actually wrapping up well. Even schematically we are superior. This is a huge game for Michigan ( of course us too ) playing at home +5 margin, starting a new QB that’s gonna pull out all the stops, but also being the defending national champions. Lot of pride on that field between both teams.

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
September 19, 2024 6:29 pm
Reply to  Trojanfanatic

And don’t forget that our defense will be improving as the season progresses, barring injuries. Each game feeds into the next, along with practices. I’m very confident that with the two weeks to rest, recover and prepare, our defense will be ready in Ann Arbor.

Trojanfanatic
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Trojanfanatic
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September 19, 2024 7:05 pm

Our bye definitely helps. I believe we’ll be ready. Gettin close to game time!

volunteerTrojan
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September 19, 2024 7:37 pm
Reply to  Trojanfanatic

Yep, I’m really excited for this one.

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
September 19, 2024 9:51 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Sure beats playing in Tempe, or Berkeley, or Corvallis in September, IMHO. I love all these big brand conference matchups in September. Some may say that it will dilute the specialness of what used to be rare matchups between the top P12 and B10 teams in the Rose Bowl or rare early season out of conference matchup, maybe, but what it really does is morph to a great annual rivalry. Annually occurring matchups between MI and OHSt, USC and ND, UTenn and AL, etc. hasn’t knocked the luster off those matchups. TN vs OK is Saturday also, and Utah vs… Read more »

Steveg
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Steveg
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September 20, 2024 10:53 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Nothing would make me happier.

Jamaica
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Jamaica
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September 20, 2024 9:51 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

It’s always a good match when west coast surfer boys play mid-west plowboys.

TrojanRon
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TrojanRon
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September 20, 2024 7:58 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I hope Michigan switching QB backfires for them. The new QB looks like a runner and not much of a passer. Hopefully SC’s vastly improved Defense can hold the guy in check and Miller Moss and the running game go off against the Wolverines.

Steveg
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Steveg
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September 19, 2024 12:39 pm

It’s like Riley said, you don’t play QB at this level unless you can throw the ball, period. They are prepared!!

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