Hoke Noncommittal On Whether Gardner Or Morris Will Start Next Game

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

ANN ARBOR (CBS DETROIT) - Devin Gardner tossed two interceptions Saturday as Michigan lost to Utah, 26-10. Backup Shane Morris did not look much better, throwing a pick of his own and also losing a fumble.

After an embarrassingly one-sided, turnover-filled loss to Notre Dame two weeks ago, Michigan head coach Brady Hoke said the Wolverines would stick with Gardner as their starting quarterback. Saturday night he would make no such commitment.

"It's way too early for me to assess that until [offensive coordinator] Doug [Nussmeier] and myself ... look at the tape and all that stuff," Hoke said. "The one thing I can tell you is sometimes it's good for the guy to come out and just watch and see what he can see from the sidelines and look at rotations of coverages ... Look, there's not going to be any answers to that tonight. We will compete and challenge like we have every day, and then we will have a starting quarterback against Minnesota."

Hoke phrased his answers carefully so as not to admit to any change in Gardner's status as the starter.

"We'll assess where we're at right now and we'll compete and challenge all week," Hoke said. "We'll see what happens. I think that's the best way to put it."

Gardner had completed 14 of 26 passes for 148 yards when Morris replaced him in the fourth quarter. Michigan center Jack Miller said Gardner, while disappointed about being sidelined, kept a positive attitude.

"When Devin got pulled, I saw him look at Shane and say, 'Okay, let's go,'" Miller said. "That's a testament to Devin and what kind of guy, what kind of teammate he is. He's a competitor, I'm sure he didn't want to get pulled and I'm sure he's not thrilled with what happened here today, but he kept his head up and was Shane's biggest fan."

Utah sacked Morris three times and took down Morris once, but Hoke indicated the offensive line did a good enough job to give both quarterbacks some opportunities.

"Sometimes on pass protection, when the ends are going up the field, sometimes you feel like, 'Boy, they're getting closer,' but there was a pocket in there the majority of the time," Hoke said. "Not all the time. Obviously when you got four sacks, you're not excited about it totally, but I thought there was some good things in the protection, and Devin had a chance, and Shane had a chance, to step up."

The Michigan offense struggled with both quarterbacks at the helm, and just as happened in the team's loss to Notre Dame, the unit did not get into the red zone all game. The Wolverines' lone touchdown came on a pick-six. Hoke conceded concern about the offense.

"I'm concerned about everything that we're doing," Hoke said. "Do we want to be better offensively? Yeah, no question. Do we want to score points? That's part of the game ... Am I concerned? We need to play better. We need to make sure we execute better."

Despite Michigan's struggles, Hoke emphasized that the team can still have a productive season if it starts playing better. Neither Gardner nor Morris were made available for comment after the game, but linebacker Jake Ryan echoed the coach's message of perseverance.

"We've just got to keep our heads up," linebacker Jake Ryan said. "It's tough. Like I said before, our goal is still out there. That Big Ten championship is still out there. You've just got to make corrections and figure things out.

"If there was guys hanging their heads, we would tell them to keep [them] up," Ryan added. "We can't have that. We can't have that negative energy brought into the locker room."