ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Kyle Whittingham pulled the trigger to fire offensive coordinator Jason Beck after the Michigan State loss on Saturday, despite saying immediately after the game that he would assess Beck's future in the offseason. But after watching the game film, he said, he changed his mind and ousted Beck, now handing the offensive reins to offensive line coach Jim Harding.
But what about the MSU loss ultimately compelled Whittingham to change course? After all, there have been some bad offensive performances across the season. But Whittingham says Saturday's showing was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"We didn't do much of anything very well on Saturday night," Whittingham said. "You can go down the entire list: didn't run the ball
well enough, didn't throw well enough, didn't make enough third-down conversions, didn't protect the quarterback. And the biggest thing is four turnovers."
Now Michigan is in full reassessment mode. Everything is under the microscope in a way it perhaps wasn't just last week -- despite much lip service that that was the ongoing case. But with Beck gone, fresh eyes will have a chance to reevaluate everything.
Thus, with the Oregon game coming up on Saturday, the first of three straight matchups against ranked foes, it's not even clear who will be the starting quarterback.
Whittingham refrained from extending freshman Tommy Carr's three-game stint as the starter, giving sophomore Bryce Underwood another opportunity to win the job back. Given that Beck's offense was particularly moribund, regardless of who was under center, it makes sense that the offensive coaches, now out from under Beck's shadow, may want to make a different decision.
"To be determined, but there was consideration about whether to insert Bryce and try to create something," Whittingham said. "And after discussion, it was determined that we would stay the course with what we had in that particular game. But going forward, we'll take a look at everything again and see what gives us the best chance to win, as it always comes down to that."
Schematically, Michigan won't change, despite the coordinator upheaval. But the playcalling certainly might, and Harding and the other offensive coaches may have better ideas for how to deploy either Underwood or Carr, especially down this tough stretch.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football QB battle reopened after Jason Beck firing
