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Jim Harbaugh made his debut with the Michigan Wolverines on Thursday on the road against a tough Utah Utes squad in Salt Lake City. He had kept his starting quarterback under wraps all the way up until his offense took the field for the first time when Jake Rudock came out as QB1, in theory because of his history of protecting the football. But as the game unfolded, Rudock failed Michigan by throwing three interceptions leading to the Wolverines’ 24-17 loss.
Rudock provided a significant amount of starting experience for Harbaugh’s offense after coming to Ann Arbor this offseason from the Iowa Hawkeyes as a graduate transfer. Last season, Rudock threw for 2,436 yards with 16 touchdowns and just five interceptions while completed 61.7 percent of his passes. He didn’t necessarily bring the biggest arm to the quarterback position but his experience helped him make sound decisions more often than not and that was the quarterback Michigan was hoping they would get against Utah.
Last season, Michigan had a Big Ten-worst 26 turnovers as they posted the worst turnover margin in the conference at -16 (second worst was the Wisconsin Badgers at -9). Reducing turnovers was a point of emphasis for Harbaugh in his first season which is why the steady hand of Jake Rudock ultimately came out on top in the team’s quarterback derby.
On Thursday, however, Rudock was far from his best. He had positive moments, completing 27-of-43 passes (62.8 percent) for 279 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But it was the three interceptions, including a 1st quarter interception that ended Michigan’s opening drive in the red zone and a 4th quarter pick-six by Justin Thomas that put the Utes out ahead of Michigan 24-10, that Michigan fans will remember from this loss.
Just about everywhere else in the game, Michigan was even or better than Utah, including total yards (Michigan 355, Utah 337), time of possession (Michigan 30:41, Utah 29:19), and first downs (Michigan 20, Utah 20). The difference in this game was the three turnovers for Michigan coming from interceptions by Rudock and the -2 turnover margin for the Wolverines.
If Michigan hopes to find some success this season, Jake Rudock has to get back to playing the way that won him the starting quarterback job in the first place. That means taking care of the football, minimizing the turnovers, and putting the Wolverines in the best position to win games. Will he be able to settle into the role and turn things around or will Harbaugh be forced to make a change under center?
You can follow Tyler Brett on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.
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