As Jim Harbaugh exited his first spring game as Michigan's head coach, he appeared confident in knowing who his starting quarterback for the 2015 season would be.
At least more so than he does now.
At the time, the first-year Wolverines head coach had fewer options and one who seemed to be standing out from the rest.
But with the start of fall camp just days away, Steve Kornacki of MGoBlue.com reported that Harbaugh has gone back on naming Shane Morris the front-runner in favor of placing the junior in a full-on competition with Iowa graduate transfer Jake Rudock:
Everybody in the football-loving free world loves knowing who the quarterback's going to be.
...
Jake and Shane impress me the most. Those two are focused and serious. They've both got a plan. They've both got a lot riding on this. And you can tell they're excited about it ... they're embracing it. And they can't wait to get out there and prove that they're the guy.
Harbaugh's change of tune from the spring wasn't necessarily unexpected, as this was the way most anticipated his quarterback conundrum would ultimately play out. After all, the ink on Rudock's transfer papers had hardly dried when Harbaugh named Morris the favorite. The former Hawkeye was still months away from arriving in Ann Arbor.
But the fact that Rudock has gained so much ground on Morris in a short period of time is telling nonetheless and perhaps indicative of how Harbaugh's quarterback competition will continue to take form.
While Morris has had all offseason to lock up the Wolverines' starting job, Rudock appears to have done enough in less than two months' time to find himself on equal footing with his primary competition at his new school.
Harbaugh has yet to run an official practice with Rudock in a maize and blue uniform, but he's been impressed by the poise of the fifth-year senior.
"He's got a bounce in his step. He's got some real pizzazz," Harbaugh said of Rudock at Big Ten media days in Chicago last week. "Shane Morris and Jake, they're very serious, very focused, but very loose and confident at the same time. Very excited to watch both of them compete. They both have a lot at stake."
Harbaugh's not wrong either, as this could be seen as the last shot that both players have at making an impact in their respective college careers.
For Rudock, that literally rings true as 2015 will mark his final season of eligibility.
As for Morris, losing this year's competition could put him behind the eight-ball for another one in 2016, when Michigan's quarterback depth chart will only be more crowded with the additions of Houston transfer John O'Korn and 4-star quarterback Brandon Peters.
Only adding to the intrigue of the QB derby in Ann Arbor is the contrasting styles of both Rudock and Morris, which can be seen in both their playing styles and personalities.
A former 4-star prospect himself, the strong-armed Morris has always been marked by his high-risk, high-reward nature. But at the midway point of his college career, it's been much more of the former, as evidenced by a stat line that currently includes a 48.3 completion percentage, five interceptions and zero touchdowns.
Only that hasn't stopped the 6'3", 209-pounder from possessing the type of confidence that one would imagine Harbaugh can't help but admire, as Morris has spoken bluntly about his upcoming competition with Rudock.
"Right now it's my job to lose," he said at the Ann Arbor Aerial Assault quarterback camp in June. "I'm just going to keep working hard and fight off any competitors that are trying to take it away from me."
Rudock, meanwhile, has been much more conservative when it's come to talking about the quarterback race, stating that while he'd obviously like to play, he isn't placing too much focus on the competition with Morris.
His quiet nature is also reflected in his play, as he completed 60.3 percent his passes in his last two years as Iowa's starter but never tallied more than 2,500 yards or 18 touchdowns in either the 2013 or 2014 season.
With a Wolverines defense that appears to be much further along than the offense, Rudock's safer style of play could be preferable to Harbaugh, who got the most out of the similarly efficient Alex Smith during his time with the San Francisco 49ers.
At the moment, that appears to be the way the battle between Rudock and Morris is trending with Michigan's season opener against Utah exactly one month away.
Both candidates seem to have support of their teammates, even though Rudock has spent a fraction of the time on campus that Morris has.
"He's doing a great job," Wolverines wide receiver Jehu Chesson said of Rudock. "He's slinging it. He's a good passer and I like catching from him—I like catching it from Shane too.
"In terms of his game experience, it's not a mystery who has more game experience. [Rudock] probably has the most game experience of the quarterbacks we have now."
According to Harbaugh, however, that will only count for so much in the coming weeks.
"I'm just going to observe. Can learn a lot by watching," Harbaugh said. "We're going to roll the balls out there and let them all compete. Whoever is playing better will be our quarterback."
With fall camp kicking off on Friday in Ann Arbor, there's still a chance that Morris will put it together and be that player when all is said and done.
But at this point, Rudock appears to have momentum on his side, and that ultimately could matter more than anything else.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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