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Michigan Football Prediction: Wilton Speight will start against Florida

By Chris Peterson

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Wilton Speight #3 of the Michigan Wolverines reacts in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles during the Capitol One Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Wilton Speight #3 of the Michigan Wolverines reacts in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles during the Capitol One Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh said the quarterback race is down to two guys. But what it really means is that Wilton Speight will be the starter in 2017.

Some Michigan football fans were hoping to see a new starting quarterback in 2017. However, after Jim Harbaugh said the race has narrowed to two, it’s unlikely to happen.

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In some of his first public comments since Big Ten Media Days, Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh said that Wilton Speight and John O’Korn have separated themselves from Brandon Peters in the three-way race to be UM’s signal caller.

Here’s exactly what Harbaugh had to say to local reporters:

“John and Wilton have really stepped up,” Harbaugh said. “I think they’ve created a little bit of separation and they’re battling now. It’s one with the ones, and the next day the other’s with the ones and the other is with the twos. We’re keeping a very close eye on it. It’s progressing well.”

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It seems that Harbaugh will never name a starting quarterback before the season actually starts, but if I was a betting man, I’d be putting my money on Speight starting  for Michigan football against Florida.

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Michigan Wolverines Football /

Michigan Wolverines Football

I don’t think John O’Korn is a bad player, last summer, I thought he would win the job. But at this point, I just don’t see him suddenly overtaking the Wolverines’ returning starter.

There is zero doubt that if Harbaugh thought O’Korn was the better option, he would go with him in a heartbeat. However, it’s hard to see that happening. Michigan knows what it has in both players and unless something has dramatically changed, the job is Speight’s to lose.

A few weeks ago, when Harbaugh announced that the QB race was a three-way dead heat, few seemed surprised. Yet, O’Korn’s candidacy for the job this season hasn’t been taken seriously.

To me it was always Speight or Peters. O’Korn is the veteran backup and that’s fine. He did the job when called up a year ago. But he’s not better than Speight and unless I’m dead wrong, he will never be Michigan’s starting quarterback. At least not the preferred one anyway.

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For now, it seems that Speight has fended off the challenge to his job and if plays well in 2017, he just might keep it for the rest of his Michigan football career.

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