SEATTLE — Michigan football has made yet another quarterback switch.

The Wolverines found themselves down 14-0 on Saturday to Washington at Husky Stadium early in the second quarter (follow game live updates) when head coach Sherrone Moore opted to bench Alex Orji in favor of seventh-year passer Jack Tuttle. Tuttle was long seen as a safety valve for the Wolverines should they need to go that way, but injuries in the spring and summer set Tuttle back in the competition.

Instead, it became a two-man race between Davis Warren and Orji, ultimately won by Warren. However that was short lived after he threw six interceptions in the first three games, and coaches pulled him for Orji.

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Tuttle entered the game and led the Wolverines on a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended when Donovan Edwards scored on a 39-yard touchdown run. Tuttle completed one pass for five yards on the possession, and ran twice for 14 yards.

Tuttle's second possession covered 56 yards over eight plays, ending with a Dominic Zvada 45-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 14-10 late in the half. Tuttle is 3-for-4 for 26 yards passing at halftime.

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Coming out of halftime, NBC sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen said Moore told her he made the switch to Tuttle to give a spark to the offense.

"(Moore said) we needed a little bit of a boost, and he provided that energy, he provided that spark. He practiced well all week, he's been healthy," Tappen said on the TV broadcast, paraphrasing what Moore told her. "We've known for a few weeks now (that Tuttle is healthy) but decided now was the time to put him in."

Tuttle opened the third quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Colston Loveland on a scramble right, giving Michigan 17 straight points and a 17-14 lead.

The Orji experiment appears over after he was unable to conduct any sort of passing offense. Orji went 7 of 12 for 32 yards in his first career start, a 27-24 win over USC. Last week, he was 10 of 18 for 86 yards with one touchdown and one interception as U-M survived Minnesota, 27-24.

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But things reached a breaking point on Saturday in Seattle. Orji completed his first three passes for 15 yards but then threw four straight incompletions including two passes batted at the line of scrimmage. The best of the three drives was the first, which went 8 plays and 31 yards, before a three-and-out and then a 5-play drive went just 14 yards.

The Huskies took advantage of the short possessions and scored twice on their first four drives, to put U-M on its heels.

Tuttle entered the game and U-M finally found life.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X @RealTonyGarcia.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Alex Orji benched for Jack Tuttle: Michigan football makes QB change