Michigan football countdown to kickoff: 55 days until 2022 season

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There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 3 opener against Colorado State. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.

With Michigan now just 55 days away from the start of the season, we do not have to look too far back for someone who popularized the number. Pass rusher David Ojabo – along with Aidan Hutchinson – helped form one of the best rush duos in Michigan history.

But it never came that easy for the Aberdeen, Scotland native. He had the physical tools when he arrived to the United States and enrolled at Blair Academy in New Jersey. But football was a totally different beast.

“I won’t lie, when I first started in high school I was getting smacked around by little dudes,” Ojabo said at the 2022 NFL Combine. “That didn’t sit right with me. The toughest thing was the contact aspect. Coming from basketball, if you bump someone it’s a foul. Soccer, if you bump someone too hard, it’s a foul. Football, if you’re not bumping someone, you’re not playing.

“My freshman year (at Michigan) I took a big jump when I started playing against future NFL linemen like (Jon) Runyan (Jr.), Cesar Ruiz. That just bettered me even more.”

When it started to click

Ojabo had a huge breakout season for the Wolverines in 2021 with 11 sacks playing opposite Hutchinson. His game is an ever-evolving work-in-progress, but Michigan’s win at Wisconsin in 2021 was a moment he felt he was coming into his own.

Ojabo recorded 7 total tackles and 2.5 sacks in an emotional 38-17 blowout win in Madison.

“I was like, ‘OK, I think I’m pretty good at this sport,’” Ojabo said. “Everything just kind of clicked together. I had a dominant performance and that’s when I burst on the scene. I had my confidence burst through the roof and I started believing in myself.”

Staying near Hutchinson helped Ojabo round into the form he did during his third season in Ann Arbor. Some of the habits he picked up on helped him stand alongside his teammate as a potential first-round pick.

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“Coming into this season, he was a projected top-five pick, so I knew already, that’s a high-level guy,” Ojabo said. “It was the smart thing to do to get in his hip pocket. In my head, I thought, man, if I do what he did, I’ll be top five. I latched on and did everything did, workouts, film, even asked him about his eating, sleeping habits, all that.”

The path gets tougher with pro day injury

Ojabo was unfortunately dealt a tough blow during Michigan’s pro day in March. During a workout session, he tore his Achilles tendon. That likely puts him on the shelf for most, if not all of the 2022 season. It saw his draft stock fall from surefire first-rounder to uncertainty.

The Baltimore Ravens ended his slide on draft day, picking him up with the No. 45 overall pick. This reunites him with former Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who now runs the Baltimore defense.

“That’s just how I know that it’s all part of the plan,” Ojabo said after he was selected. What are the odds that the person who comes in and gives me a chance to play [at Michigan] ultimately is the guy I’m following to the next level as well? I just know that it’s all written, man. It’s meant to be.”