Michigan Football Winners and Losers vs. Washington: The QB choice is clear

EDGE Josaiah Stewart

Michigan’s outstanding performance was once again a game-changing factor upon his return from injury, as Pro Football Focus ranked him the Wolverines’ best defender (at 91.2). Stewart was pass rushing 25 times, defending the run 21 times and falling into coverage on seven other occasions while finishing with six pressures, five rushes, four tackles, three stops, two tackles for loss and one sack. The sack came on first-and-10 in the third quarter when he beat the Huskies’ left tackle on a rush of speed around the outside. His other tackle in the backfield came when he dropped running back Jonah Coleman for a 2-yard loss on the next set of downs (which set up a third down that resulted in a punt). This is the second game in a row that Stewart’s PFF number has topped 90.

QB Jack Tuttle

Perhaps it’s damning with faint praise, but perhaps Washington coach Jedd Fisch said it best in his halftime interview when he told NBC sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen that the Huskies needed to play “normal defense” against Tuttle instead of themselves to sell to stop the run. Simply put, with the seventh-grader in the game, UM’s offense went from being one-dimensional to being functional. Still, he had a costly fumble and then threw an interception (after Washington scored the go-ahead touchdown) to seal the defeat – overall, according to PFF’s rating, he performed even worse (49.2) than Orji did in his first start (54.2). Season. But it’s impossible to ignore how much better UM looked in its first three drives, scoring 17 straight points. He finished 10 of 18 for 98 yards, a touchdown and an interception, including Michigan’s first explosive pass play (a 22-yarder to Amorion Walker) in nearly a month. Tuttle clearly appears to be UM’s best option going forward.