Michigan may not have had the most high profile quarterback competition, but that has likely allowed head football coach Jim Harbaugh make his decision as stealthily as possible.
According to ESPN, he told reporters on a Big Ten coaches' teleconference that he made his decision on who to start week one against Utah, but will not publicize it. Taking the first snap for the Wolverines on Thursday in Utah will either be Jake Rudock or Shane Morris.
Rudock transferred from Iowa after graduating, allowing him to play right away, and Morris going into his third year at Michigan.
"They know," Harbaugh told reporters of the quarterbacks who have been competing for the week one starting role. "We know who's going to start. We know who's going in second or who's going to go in next. I want them both to prepare like they're going to be the starter. I don't know how to make it any more clear than that."
Whereas QB competitions at schools like Ohio State, Alabama, and UCLA have involved Heisman hopefuls and highly touted recruits, Harbaugh managed to keep the one he had on his hands low key. But his decision to keep the announcement under wraps may also be a tactic.
"I want both of them to go into this game with a mindset that they're one play away or they're starting," ESPN quoted Harbaugh telling reporters on the teleconference. "It's the mindset I always want our quarterback and our backup quarterback to go into the game with.
"If that's another positive or byproduct of it," he said of possibly catching Utah unprepared for either QB, "then we'll take that as well."
