Michigan Football: Who will Jim Harbaugh tab as Wolverines’ starting QB?

With fall camp ramping up, and the season right around the corner, who will emerge with starting quarterback role for the Michigan Wolverines?

For the first time in years, Michigan has a quarterback controversy to start a season. Since 2010, the Wolverines have entered fall camp knowing who would lead the team under center. Starting with Denard Robinson, and followed by Devin Gardner, the starting job had always been decided before drills and scrimmages ever began.

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This year is different.

The heir apparent at quarterback, 6-foot-3, 209 pound junior Shane Morris, has struggled and looked overwhelmed by collegiate defenses at times. In the ten games he’s played, two of which were starts and the rest being either mop-up duty or injury replacement, he has completed just 49.4% of his 87 pass attempts, good for 389 yards and five interceptions. Morris has yet to throw a touchdown pass.

However there are reasons to hope for significant improvement from Morris this year. For starters, Michigan was the 77th best rushing offense in the NCAA in 2014, allowing defenses to be unconcerned about the anemic rushing attack and focusing entirely on rushing the quarterback and taking away the passing game.

Michigan is also returning a number of offensive linemen. That is a mixed blessing, considering the Wolverines did not protect the passer well last year, giving up 26 sacks which was tied for 76th in the nation. On the other hand, experience is golden in college football, and with a line full of players another year older and stronger, and with another year of having played together, improvement is a given.

Thanks to this experienced and likely improved offensive line, the running game should also be improved with force of nature Ty Isaac leading the way in the backfield. The 6-foot-3, 240 pound sophomore is the kind of big, bruising back that coach Jim Harbaugh likes to feature. Isaac and his fellow backfield-mates, juniors De’Veon Smith and Derrick Green and senior Drake Johnson, should be able to shoulder the load for the running game, which will remove a great deal of the pressure on the quarterback.

6-foot-3, 205 pound senior Jake Rudock is the prime challenger to Morris. Rudock transferred from Iowa after the Hawkeyes surprisingly promoted CJ Beathard to Rudock’s starting position after a blowout loss to Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

Last season Rudock completed 213 of his 345 pass attempts, good for 61.7 percent and gained 2,436 yards. He also threw for 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. Rudock is a solid game manager, the kind of quarterback who might not win you games but he won’t make mistakes that will cost you games either.

In Michigan’s spring game, Morris received the majority of the snaps and from all indications from coach Harbaugh it looks like it’s his job to lose. However as camp continues, there is no reason to expect Rudock to lie down and let Morris coast to a victory in this battle, and we may well see the senior line up under center for the Wolverines in the season opener against Utah.

Who do you think wins the Michigan QB job? Let us know in the comments section with your pick to start the opener.

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