Wilton Speight named Starter

Much deserved! I hope he has great success except against Cal. GO BEARS!!

FUN FACT 1:  By starting for UCLA against Cincinnati, Wilton Speight could gain the distinction of becoming the first QB who played for Michigan to have two wins as a starter against a team directed by one-time Ohio State Head Coach Luke Fickell.

FUN FACT 2:  Cincinnati's second opponent is Miami of Ohio. If Alex Malzone were somehow to start for Miami against Cincinnati, then each of the starting quarterbacks for Cincinnati's first two opponents this season will have been on the Michigan team that beat Cincinnati last season.

First thought: Hahahahahahaha

Second thought: I hope this goes well for Speight. He left us with some great memories, but I don't blame him for looking for a change in environment when he was likely to be passed by Peters. We aren't hurting. He spent four years, won games, endured some pretty significant pain in there for us.

Third thought: Hard to tell exactly what this means. Could mean that DTR just can't pass worth a lick yet and Kelly is going with someone that can make some of his basic plays. It could mean that Kelly's offense is more NFL-ized now--we're talking about someone who had guys like Sam Bradford starting for him at QB in the NFL. 

Or, it could just be that Kelly thinks that while Speight isn't going to scare anyone with his legs, he has enough tools to make that irrelevant. Kelly's best season was 2010 (recall that he left before they made it back to the national title game in 2014). His QB that year was not Dennis Dixon, Jeremiah Masoli, or Marcus Mariotta; it was Darron Thomas, whose speed frightened absolutely nobody. 

But Kelly's tempo, talent, and scheme did the job. 

My guess is that Speight is the guy who actually executes the plays. Even though the system is different, Speight knows how to absorb a playbook and know where everyone is supposed to be (one of his strengths at Michigan) and it's quite possible that he'll be quite good at executing Kelly's passing offense. 

I hope the best for him. 

Yay for Wilton!  That is great news.

I hope Wilton does well. All those girlfriends at UCLA may give him the confidence to finally go deep and he may lead UCLA to the PAC12 championship.

A big salute to Wilton.  Not only is it a tribute to him working hard and successfully in UCLA practices to win the starting position, but to pull of what he did shows masterful planning and execution as well.

This will definitely be interesting.  I too will be at the Rose Bowl tomorrow as at least one other indicated.  Will report observations.

nm

Good for him.  Go get ‘em Wilt!