The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529264
22 THE WOLVERINE ❱ DECEMBER 2024 BY JOHN BORTON S enior Greg Crippen didn't seize Michigan's starting center spot in fall camp, like he'd worked toward all summer. But as for- mer head coach Jim Harbaugh famously said, all spots are rented, not owned. After playing backup in the open- ing five games, Crippen moved into the starting lineup for the road game at Washington in Week 6. He's hop- ing to have found a season-long resi- dence among U-M starters, while head coach Sherrone Moore indicated he's responded well to this point through Week 11. "He's been good," Moore said. "He's given us a good chance to win. He's just got to continue elevating his game in certain situations to get better, but he's taken command of the group. You've seen the success, and we're going to ad- vance with him there." Crippen isn't any stranger to the Wolverines. The fourth-year performer has played in 22 games with U-M, but hadn't cracked the lineup until this sea- son. He's played in two Big Ten cham- pionship contests, the latter in 2023 as one of the nine games in which he saw the field during the 15-0 national cham- pionship campaign. This year, he set his sights on opening games at the tip of Michigan's offensive spear. He's always been mentioned as fighting for the job, but the last two sea- sons lost out to veteran portal transfers. This year, he planned to grab the spot, until football fate intervened. "In the beginning of the season, it was tough for me, because during camp, I got hurt," Crippen explained. "At the end of camp, I twisted my ankle and foot. There was competition at the time, and it kind of put me back a little bit. I'm feeling really healthy now. As an of- fensive line, we've just got to keep roll- ing now, and keep getting better." CENTER STAGE Veteran Greg Crippen Is The Next Man Up At Center After playing backup at the center position in the opening five games, Crippen (51) moved into the start- ing lineup for the road game at Washington. PHOTOS BY LON HORWEDEL