The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546678
38 THE WOLVERINE ❱ OCTOBER 2026 ❱ MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Brown, though, approaches it with an "I don't know what all the fuss is about" attitude. He's simply doing his job, he said, and he's happy to contribute. "It's kind of the second nature," he said on the "Inside Michigan" radio show fol- lowing the win over the Sooners. "You don't think about it too much. You just naturally know how much power to put into the ball, to put it where you want. It helps a lot. "It's always [about] consistency. I was happy with a lot of my punts, but punt- ing is one of those things you can never really be perfect at. I'm always striving for perfection, so no matter what, I'm trying to get better, and if I'm not per- fect, I'll be at least great." So far, so good. — Chris Balas OFFENSIVE LINE OPTIONS LIMITED WITH ANDREW BABALOLA SETBACK The best thing Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham could say about his offensive line after the Wolverines pulled out a 13-12 victory over Western Michi- gan in the Sept. 5 season opener wasn't exactly what you'd call "glowing." "The offensive line didn't play bad," Whittingham said the Monday after the game. "I've watched it three times now, the entire film. They did not have a bad game. It wasn't a great game, but it wasn't bad. There were some big runs negated and a big throw or two negated from penalties, but pass protection was okay. We allowed the one sack. "I thought the offensive line, after watching it a few times, wasn't as big of a liability as I thought it was initially." A couple of the Wolverines' penal- ties against the Broncos were formation fouls on which it appeared the linemen weren't on the line of scrimmage. And overall, U-M managed only 276 yards to- tal offense, 47 of those on a last-second Hail Mary touchdown pass to sophomore receiver JJ Buchanan. The Wolverines ran for only 106 yards. In addition, the Michigan offensive linemen struggled to get to the second level to deal with the linebackers, and the push wasn't what many expected. What's most disappointing is that the starters all have significant game experi- ence and seemed to be much better a year ago for an offense that, while limited at times, ran the ball quite well in several games. While former running back Justice Haynes (now at Georgia Tech) probably had something to do with that, many be- lieve the line should have taken a bigger step under new assistant Jim Harding. Game No. 2, a 17-10 victory over then- No. 11 Oklahoma, was a bit better. The Wolverines ran for 152 yards against an extremely talented Sooners defense, 87 from sophomore quarterback Bryce Un- derwood. Veteran lineman Nathan Efobi subbed in for injured senior Evan Link, while senior Brady Norton played right guard, where he'd rotated with Efobi in Week 1. "They were better graded out than we had Week 1, and they played hard," Whit- tingham said. "We shuffled the lineup due to injury, not due to anything other than that. … We hope to get Evan Link back [for UTEP], but Nate Efobi stepped in and did a nice job at left guard. You may see a rotation there this week with those two; that's to be determined. But the effort level and the passion and the energy that the O-line played with was markedly different than Week 1." While some young linemen, like soph- omore Avery Gach, are still pushing for time, the line isn't quite as deep as origi- nally hoped. That's due in large part to Andrew Babalola's slow recovery from a torn ACL sustained last year. Whitting- ham sang the big sophomore's praises at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago this year, and the 6-foot-6, 305-pounder was ex- pected to push junior Blake Frazier for the left tackle spot. Though he practiced there this fall, Babalola was eliminated from the com- petition for a while after missing the first two games. "Andrew had a setback, so we're going to have to work through some things," Whittingham said after the win against Oklahoma. "He will not be available in the near future, unfortunately." There was some hope that either he or Frazier could move inside to one of the guard spots if they were among the top five linemen, though Whittingham said this summer, "I think [Babalola] is Offensive lineman Nathan Efobi moved to offensive guard during the Oklahoma game, in which Michigan rushed for 152 yards against a talented Sooners defense. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL