The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 25 tice Haynes and a 54-yarder by sopho- more Jordan Marshall. On both plays, Crippen drew huge attention from tak- ing on multiple would-be threats to the breakaway. "You saw that show up directly, where on those two long, outside-zone, TD runs, he's running at the point of at- tack and doing a great job of getting the hip over, climbs and gets a piece of the 'backer," Newsome said. "I'm just really excited for him and proud of him. He played his best game of his career, and now the challenge for him is to make that standard, the expectation, and we've got to help him do that." Head Coach Sherrone Moore — no stranger to high-level offensive line play himself — piled on the praise for Crip- pen's effort in what turned out to be a cliffhanger against the Cornhuskers. "The job of the center on those is to beat the hip of the 3-tech [defensive tackle]," Moore noted. "The hip comes to you, you knock it out. It stays away, you've got to climb. And getting to the second level for bigger dudes is not al- ways the easiest thing. And he did an unbelievable job of not only knocking the 3-technique out, but climbing to the second level, getting his hat on a hat." Crippen, hardly the self-aggrandizing sort, put it more succinctly. "Those long runs, I just did my job," he said. "It was great." He's been looking to do his job for Michigan ever since emerging from Bra- denton (Fla.) IMG Academy in 2021. A teammate of J.J. McCarthy's at IMG, Crippen arrived in Ann Arbor with a whole lot less hype and a bigger hill to climb. The Wolverines were right at the start of an offensive line golden era that would carry them to three consecutive Big Ten titles, culminating in the na- tional championship in 2023. While he appeared in a combined 16 games during those seasons, starting opportunities simply were not avail- able. When there might have been a chance, it seemed more talent flowed in. "He's a great example of what col- lege football is really all about, and what staying the course and attacking the process means," Moore said. "People always talk about that, but what does that really mean? He was here as a true freshman [with veteran] Andrew Vas- tardis. We brought in Olu Oluwatimi, brought in Drake Nugent, and a lot of guys would have chucked the deuces and left, and he didn't. He stayed the course, became the starter last year and played his best game last week [against Nebraska] — his best game." Crippen acknowledged his path to the lineup hasn't proven easy. "It's been a long journey for me, with a lot of ups and downs," he said. "The biggest thing for me is just the mental side of things. Physically, I could do it. Mentally, there's just a lot of growth, confidence in myself and positive thoughts." There's an extra level of security needed this season, in some ways. Freshman quarterback Bryce Under- wood is learning on the job, and it's Crippen's job and that of the offensive line to keep him upright. Beyond that, the center can ease his burden in other ways. "That's one of the biggest things we have to do — protect the quarterback," Crippen said. "I know one of my jobs is just taking a lot off his plate as well and making sure our protections are right. If we have a certain call, or check, a dif- ferent call, making sure that's right. It's taking some of that off his plate. Pro- tecting the quarterback is one of the biggest things we do, and we've im- proved a lot there since last year." At the same time, age doesn't mat- ter in some respects for QB protection, Crippen pointed out. "That's our goal every game," he said. "It doesn't matter who the quarter- back is. We have high expectations for ourselves. I know I want to be the best center in the country. I wasn't named as one of the Rimington Award Watch List guys, but that just fires me up. Pro- tecting Bryce is a very important thing, but that's the standard in our room, and that's what we're going to do." The offensive line faced a very tough test early, against a strong Oklahoma defense and a front that was moving and blitzing in some form on every single play, Crippen asserted. He felt the line held its own that night, but also grew stronger because of the test. "Ultimate focus, every single day," Crippen said. "Every single thing you do, it's how you do it and doing it in the best possible way. We're really hungry — starving — and we're going to keep rolling." After Nebraska, he explained: "Some days in practice we felt like we did a good job executing, but the energy wasn't good enough and intensity wasn't good enough. It's like, 'Hey, let's pick that up.' And there's some days where intensity is good but execution isn't good. It needs to be both things. And I think we did a good job here with that." The challenge never ends. Fighting his way into the lineup represents only the beginning of the battle. They're all facing the pushback challenge after a road setback at USC. But for Crippen, there is certainly the champion's mantle of toughing out the fight at this level and not walking away. ❏ MASS MIGRATION TO MICHIGAN Graduate student center Greg Crippen hails from Northborough, Mass., a state that has sent a number of offensive starters Michigan's way. Here's a look at the most recent hand- ful on that side of the ball. 1. Peyton O'Leary, WR, 2021-present — O'Leary started six games for the Wolverines last season, securing 10 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, making his TD grab against Oregon. 2. Kalel Mullings, RB, 2020-24 — Mullings rushed for 948 yards and 12 touchdowns as a grad student in 2024. He was honored as the team's Offensive Player of the Year and co- Bo Schembechler Most Valuable Player. 3. Mike Sainristil, WR/DB, 2019-23 — Sainristil began as a receiver at Michigan, before a standout stint as a defensive back, where he plays now in the NFL with the Washington Commanders. He became a first-team All-American in 2023. 4. Zak Zinter, OL, 2020-23 — Zinter helped anchor Michigan's national championship of- fensive line of 2023, earning plaudits as a unanimous All-American along the way. 5. Sean McKeon, TE, 2016-19 — Caught 60 passes for 668 yards and 6 touchdowns as a Wolverine, starting 23 games. — John Borton