If not now, when?

At this point, barring some sort of massive turnaround, the Michigan pass attack is what it is and that's a shame. The boom or bust aspect of the passing attack has too big a gulf right now to be relied upon with consistency. Take Davis Warren's day, for example. 11/14 is a fair efficient day until you factor in the three incompletions as interceptions, which totally negates anything positive that might have been accomplished on Saturday, which, in all reality, wasn't much to begin with. Warren is capable of making high-quality throws but until the decision-making can be reeled in, the risk is not worth the reward once the season moves forward. And I'm not sure there's a clear path forward to get things back on the right track.

So, what's the answer?

In all reality, there probably isn't one.

U-M doesn't need a consistent 300-yard passer, especially if they want to establish the run, they need someone who can take care of the football whether he has 50 yards, 100 yards or 500 yards. Turnover-free football is a good start to getting things right. Whether that's Alex Orji or Jack Tuttle when healthy, you cannot run an efficient offense when your quarterback is turning the ball over multiple times a game.

It's abundantly clear the quarterback position needs to be addressed after the year is over. Bringing in experience through the portal will help a room that still won't have much in terms of quality starts next season, especially if Alex Orji struggles moving forward.

Back-to-basics was discussed a lot by us last week, that was something the offensive staff wanted to do in terms of the running game. Jumbo packages, getting hats on hats in the running lanes and getting your best blockers out there in order to move the football on the ground.

It worked.

I wouldn't say that the running game is 'fixed' as one game doesn't solve a recent trend. However, you want to see progress from week to week, especially when you make it a public point that you're going back to the drawing board. The program set out what it achieved to do and it's a good start.

When the passing game isn't going, you have to learn to hit a few singles before you start thinking about extra bases. For other sports metaphors, you gotta see a few go through before you find the rhythm. The running game found its rhythm early and didn't look back, which is important for a team that was desperate to find something it was good at. Something it could lean on when times are tough.

Next week is a big, big test in terms of maintaining positive momentum. We've already discussed the pass game, anything positive to come out of next week is a step in the right direction, the bar is that low.

In the run game, it's fair to expect a high bar headed into USC. Is Kalel Mullings worthy of RB1 talk? We'll ultimately find out if you start to string two positive performances together.

You have to start looking inwardly when it comes to the quarterback situation almost by default. Six interceptions through three games is inexcusable and not a recipe for winning football.

While as much of the blame is on a quarterback for throwing interceptions, the offensive line (as well as running back blocking) hasn't done Davis Warren any favors, either. Warren excels at getting the ball out quickly, that's mainly out of necessity as if he holds it any longer he's got a defender in his face. This isn't excusing quarterback play, as one of the key staples for any leader of the offense is to take care of the football under any circumstance.

You saw Greg Crippen come in for Dominick Giudice, which was allegedly planned by Sherrone Moore. You also saw the offense have the best drives of the day when Crippen was the starter.

Moore said after the game that the two have practiced well and will continue to be evaluated. If that's the case, I think more weight needs to be held on what happens in games, as scoring drives speak for itself.

If the QB can be under scrutiny, so can any other position.

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