Michigan saw a bit of a spark on offense two weekends ago in a road win at Purdue when John O’Korn took over at quarterback in place of an injured Wilton Speight. With the Wolverines coming off a bye week ahead of a game against in-state rival Michigan State, Jim Harbaugh says O’Korn will be getting the start this week and beyond while Speight remains unavailable.
. @CoachJim4UM: Wilton Speight "won't be able tp compete this week or for multiple weeks. John O'Korn will be the starter."
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) October 2, 2017
Various rumors were spreading online about Speight potentially being done for the year, but Harbaugh did not go so far as to confirm those reports. Instead, Harbaugh played it safe by going on a much shorter timeframe to worry about. Regardless of how long Speight is out, Harbaugh should trust O’Korn to run the offense in the meantime. Whether it was a one-game spark against a young program still in the early stages of competing or not, O’Korn has what it takes to lead Michigan’s offense for as long as he is needed. In fact, he may end up keeping the job anyway if he performs well by the time Speight is able to play again.
Speight had completed just 54.3 percent of his pass attempts this season with three touchdowns and two interceptions, but both of those interceptions occurred in the season opener against Florida. But he had gone the last two games without a touchdown pass before leaving the Purdue game early.
O’Korn completed 18 of 26 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown with an interception against Purdue in a 28-10 victory in Big Ten play.
Michigan hosts Michigan State this week and travels to Indiana and Penn State the next two weeks.