The Wolverine

November 2021

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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NOVEMBER 2021 THE WOLVERINE 17   INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Student-Athlete Of The Month Football Redshirt Junior Tight End Joel Honigford Joel Honigford has his hands full at the Uni- versity of Michigan this fall in more than just football. The redshirt junior came to the football pro- gram to play offensive line, but navigated a position change this offseason to tight end. He spent the spring working on his body and weighed in at 255 pounds earlier this fall after being listed at 305 in 2020. "I just went back to how I would normally eat — two meals a day, and I control what I eat at night more, not as many carbs and stuff like that," Honigford said. "Just over time, work- ing with [strength] Coach [Ben] Herb[ert] and Abigail [O'Connor], our dietician, just working it down over time and watching the progress." The dedication it takes to change one's body is even more impressive when combined with his studies in the College of Engineering. Hon- igford is considered one of the more studious players on the team. "I know how hard he works — some late nights — and mechanical engineering can be super hard," friend and redshirt junior offensive tackle Andrew Stueber said. "I'm very proud of him, and I think it sets a precedent for people below him who say, 'Oh, I want to do this, but I don't know if I'm going to have time for it.' "Well, you look at our fifth-year tight end — Joel is studying mechanical engi- neering, and that's not an easy degree." It is made clear to U-M football players they have to take care of business in the classroom first and foremost. Honigford tries to set the example for the rest of the team and believes success in academics can be applied to the football field. "I have a decent role in [setting an example], being an engineer," Honigford explained. "It's no easy task doing that stuff week in and week out. I have a pretty solid understanding of the game as well. I wouldn't say anybody on the team overlooks school or says that it's dumb. Everybody has to sort their days out in time slots. You've got 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. to go to class, then you flip the switch and turn on your football mindset. From 1:30 until you leave the facility, you're on football. In the evening, you decide what you need to do. "It does take a little bit of time to understand that. Speaking for myself, my freshman year I couldn't understand that all too well. I either wanted to do one or the other. I talked to older guys on the team who helped me figure that part out and I feel like we have a lot of [players] like that on the team now that help out the younger guys." Honigford's work in the totality of his Michigan experience paid off with his first career reception for 10 yards in the 32-29 win at Nebraska Oct. 9. "I did not expect that ball to come to me, I'm not going to lie," Honigford admitted. "I was running my route, I was trying to figure out if I should convert or not. Ended up not converting it, turned back to the quarterback and the ball was already on its way. … I caught it and just turned upfield. It was like, alright, I'm just going to run straight; I'm not going to test out any juke moves right now. But it was a really cool feeling." Stueber was spotted with a smile on his face after his friend and former room- mate made the play and feels it was a reward for the work he has put in. "I looked up at the end of the play and saw that it was him falling to the ground, so I started laughing," Stueber said. "Because I knew how big of a moment it was for him and how far he's come. I'm super proud of him and his transition to tight end and how he's taking it. It's definitely cool seeing him get passes. "I keep pushing for a touchdown pass to him. So we'll see if it comes." — Anthony Broome Honigford, who transformed his body this offseason in addition to carrying a big workload in the College of Engineering, hauled in his first career reception at Nebraska Oct. 9. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL MICHIGAN FOOTBALL'S OFFENSIVE LINE MAKES MIDSEASON HONOR ROLL The offensive line's start was one of the most impressive aspects of the football team's 7-0 first-half record. As it turns out, its play passed more than just the eyeball test. Michigan was named one of the 19 units to make the midseason honor roll for the Joe Moore Award, which is awarded to the most outstand- ing offensive line in college football. The Joe Moore Award was founded by CBS college football analyst and for- mer Notre Dame guard Aaron Taylor to honor his former position coach in South Bend. The committee selects its teams based on six criteria: toughness, effort, teamwork, consistency, technique and finishing. "This has been a challenging year to evaluate [offensive line] play due to some unexpected inconsistency. But as always, the cream rises to the top and that certainly has been the case with the units on this year's honor roll," Taylor said in a release. "The bar will rise rapidly from here, and there could also be a sur- prise unit or two that emerges late in the year [like] Iowa did in 2016." Despite settling on 19 teams at the halfway point, the Joe Moore Award is still far from settled. "Each unit of this year's Midseason Honor Roll has earned the right to be recognized for displaying the award cri- teria in ways that embody the essence of our position," SEC Network analyst and voting committee chairman Cole Cubelic said. "As we move forward, con- sistency, physicality and an ability to perform in the 'gotta have it' situations will be key, differentiating factors. We're about to enter the fun part of the sea- son where O-line play matters most, and we're excited to see who's able to rise up down the stretch and have their 'Moore Moment.'" Michigan's line was singled out for its play in helping the team rush for 253.3 yards per game in its first seven contests, as well as giving up just three sacks in 490 offensive snaps. Position coach Sher- rone Moore led a group that through seven games paced the country in few- est tackles for loss per game (1.7) and tied for second in sacks allowed (0.43). Ohio State was the other Big Ten team mentioned among the 19 midseason honorees, while Michigan State was named a "unit of interest" outside of the honor roll. — Anthony Broome

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