Sherrone Moore led the Michigan Wolverines to a massive win over USC on Saturday and there was a new quarterback under center for the Maize and Blue.

Alex Orji — who is known for his ability as a strong runner more than his ability to complete passes in tight windows — finished the 27-24 win 7-of-12 with just 32 yards through the air.

Yet still, the Trojans couldn’t find a way to slow down the Michigan offense, which had a clear game plan of running the ball over and over again, with the constant threat of Orji keeping it or throwing it downfield keeping them on their heels. Michigan ran the ball 45 times on Saturday while passing it just 12 times in the victory over USC.

Michigan had just 32 passing yards in the Wolverines’ biggest win of the year. They controlled the line of scrimmage and posted an impressive 290 rushing yards on the day. It’s’ clear Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore has found an offensive identity for the 2024 squad and he’s sticking with it for the foreseeable future, at least.

In his Monday press conference, Moore confirmed Orji will start again for the Wolverines against Minnesota on Saturday.

Prior to the USC game, Michigan was starting senior QB Davis Warren, who entered the season with limited live-game experience as he served as a backup and scout team QB behind JJ McCarthy since joining the program in 2021.

Ultimately, his inexperience showed, as he had 444 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in 3 starts. If the Michigan defense wasn’t one of the top units in the country, the Wolverines could have lost to both Fresno State and Arkansas State, but escaped by a slim margin, holding both opponents to less than 20 points.

Moore publicly named Orji the starting QB ahead of the USC matchup instead of keeping the Trojans guessing. Now he’s taking the same strategy ahead of the Minnesota game. Michigan clearly believes they have a strong enough running attack to reveal their offensive strategy ahead of a matchup and the opponent still won’t find a way to slow them down.