Somebody will play quarterback for Michigan on Saturday.
It will either be Wilton Speight, the starter for the Wolverines’ first 10 games of the season, or John O’Korn, who started Michigan’s 20-10 victory over Indiana last weekend.
Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh, unsurprisingly, did not tip his hands when meeting with reporters Monday afternoon in Ann Arbor.
Speight got injured late in Michigan’s loss to Iowa two weeks ago. Multiple outlets reported the junior signal caller would miss the remainder of the season due to a broken collarbone, but Harbaugh refuted that report multiple times. “I’m not a doctor,” he said.
O’Korn started last weekend for the Wolverines against Indiana and went just 7-for-16 passing for 59 yards.
One of those two will start Saturday when No. 3 Michigan travels to Columbus for a date with second-ranked Ohio State. The Buckeyes don’t really care who it is. They're preparing for both.
“It is nice knowing who you’re going against, but I expect them all to play,” Ohio State linebacker Chris Worley said. “This is the type of game where injuries sort of don’t matter. Guys just go out there and tough it out. I look forward to seeing them all, honestly.”
Getting ready for two different quarterbacks just adds an extra wrinkle to the Buckeyes’ preparation this week in practice. It’s not a wholesale change, however, considering Speight and O’Korn are similar players. This isn’t like one is a pocket passer and the other is a scrambler. They have plenty of similarities.
“You’ve just got to go over more situations,” Buckeyes cornerback Gareon Conley said. “But at the end of the day, it’s all about fundamentals.”
Michigan currently ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten in total offense (451.1 yards per game) and scoring offense (42.3 points per game). Speight, the starter for the Wolverines’ first 10 games, has thrown for 2,156 yards with 15 touchdowns against just four interceptions on the season. He’s also completing 62.3 percent of his passes.
Up until his injury, Speight had been an adequate replacement for the departed Jake Rudock as Michigan’s quarterback. O’Korn looked rather shaky in his debut last weekend.
One of those two will start for the Wolverines on Saturday in the biggest game of the season for both Ohio State and Michigan. Right now, the Buckeyes are preparing for both.
“In my mind, I just prepare for the game overall,” Ohio State defensive end Tyquan Lewis said. “The first thing is we have to stop the run to figure out what the quarterback is going to do. Right now, it’s breaking down the runs.”
