Michigan QB Brandon Peters in concussion protocol, not ruled out for Ohio State game (Update)
Update: 11/20 – 8:35 p.m.
On his radio show Monday night, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said QB Brandon Peters went through additional concussion testing Monday afternoon and was deemed “50 percent better.” His status for Saturday’s game against Ohio State is still unknown.
“He (went through) testing and he was 50 percent better, he’s made great strides in the past 24 hours,” Harbaugh said. “There’s that hope (he can play). But it’s totally in the doctor’s hands. You hope for the best and we’ll prepare both ways. That he will be there (and that he won’t).”
Original story: 11/20 – 3:35 p.m.
Michigan quarterback Brandon Peters is in the concussion protocol but has not been ruled out of Saturday’s rivalry game against No. 8 Ohio State.
Jim Harbaugh addressed the status of the redshirt freshman Monday, two days after he took a hard hit in the loss to No. 5 Wisconsin that caused him to be carted off the field and briefly hospitalized for testing. The Michigan coach explained the process Peters has to go through to be cleared.
“He’ll be coming in shortly. He was seen yesterday, and we’ll see where he is today,” Harbaugh said.
“There are stages … as soon as he’s symptom free, if that happens today then he has to go to a day where he has exertion. That’s cardio and then lifting to be able to work up a sweat, exert yourself and then you see are the symptoms there the next day?
“Once that occurs and you come back the next day with no symptoms, you get allowed to practice without contact. That can happen as early as Wednesday; could happen as early as Thursday. Each case is different, and we totally go by the doctors and the tests.”
Peters was injured in the third quarter when he took a hard hit from Wisconsin linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who drove the quarterback into the turf. Replays showed Peters hitting his head.
He stayed down for a few minutes before sitting up and eventually being carted off the field.
Before the injury, which occurred with the Wolverines trailing 14-10, Peters had thrown for a career-high 157 yards in his third career start.
Peters was given his first significant action on Oct. 28 against Rutgers in relief of John O’Korn, who struggled as the starter while filling in for Wilton Speight. Speight, a redshirt junior, suffered a back injury Sept. 23 against Purdue and hasn’t played since.
If Peters can’t go Saturday against the Buckeyes, the Wolverines will likely turn to O’Korn. Speight has returned to practice, but has not yet been cleared for contact. He’ll be evaluated by doctors again this week.
Here’s how the three quarterbacks stack up this season:
O’Korn (eight games, four starts): 66/124 (53.2 percent), 761 yards, 1 TD, 5 INT
Speight (four games, four starts): 44/81 (54.3), 581 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INT
Peters (five games, three starts): 37/64 (57.8), 486 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT
Whoever plays Saturday in Ann Arbor needs to up their level of play if the Wolverines expect to snap their five-game losing streak to the Buckeyes.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
