65 days until Michigan football: How Zak Zinter injury led to special moments on and off the field

There are 65 days until the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines football team takes the field in the Aug. 31 opener against Fresno State. Each day until then, we’ll discuss current Michigan events, the 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.

So much about Michigan’s 2023 season felt like the third part in a trilogy with all of the storylines leading into one last push for a College Football Playoff National Championship. Amid the backdrop of sign-stealing allegations and head coach Jim Harbaugh sidelined the final three games of the regular season, the Nov. 25 showdown with Ohio State took on a different feel.

With Michigan up 17-10 in the third quarter, Ohio State put together a 12-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game at 17-all with 5:35 left on the clock. The Wolverines were in the process of their own response in a 2nd and 9 situation at the OSU 40-yard line with J.J. McCarthy completing a pass to tight end AJ Barner for 18 yards and a first down. On the play, however, OSU’s Michael Hall Jr. was blocked into guard Zak Zinter‘s leg, which led to a broken leg and season-ending injury for the heartbeat of Michigan’s offensive line.

In an interesting twist from the football gods, Hall and Zinter are now both teammates with the Cleveland Browns.

Down on the field for several moments, the Michigan Stadium crowd was shell-shocked to lose such a massive piece in the most pivotal moment of the season. As Zinter was loaded onto a cart and taken off the field, the fans chanted “Let’s Go Zak” on his way up the tunnel as he was taken to the hospital. Karsen Barnhart kicked inside from right tackle to right guard and Trente Jones took over at right tackle.

One play later, magic happened.

Running back Blake Corum took a handoff from the Ohio State 22-yard line and broke up the left side of the field for a touchdown run that electrified the crowd and brought the Big House back to life. He also flashed a 6-5 on his hands when he reached the endzone.

Michigan would hold off OSu thanks to a Rod Moore interception to seal the deal and win The Game 30-24, preserving their undefeated season and trip to college football immortality.

Meanwhile, Zinter was greeted by the suspended Harbaugh, who was now allowed to return to the field for the following week’s Big Ten Championship, at the hospital almost right after the injury happened.

A photo of Harbaugh with the Zinter family made the rounds on social media, and the Michigan captain recalled the photo and the events that led up to it.

“A lot of people were thinking it was 4 am and whatnot,” Zinter told The Wolverine in a December exclusive. “It was 4 pm. It was right after it happened. So he left the house or wherever he was watching the game and he was at the hospital before the game was even over. As soon as it happened, he got in the car and headed there to meet me, and it was super special.

“A lot was going on, a lot going through my head. They had just got done cutting all my gear off and it felt like I was getting taken apart and [then it was like] one of those movie scenes where you get there and 50 people are waiting for you. They got the X-ray machines moving in. There’s just a lot going on, and then to see [Harbaugh] come around the curtain and be there for me was super special. Being there supporting me and that he had my back and the boys also had my back… they’re finishing the game and everything was gonna be alright, and I was gonna be back better than ever.

“I had no idea [Harbaugh was there]. No one knew he was coming and neither did my parents. I’m not sure if someone had told him that I was headed there. I’m sure everyone knew I was probably headed to the hospital at that point, but none of my family or anyone had contact with him. He and Sarah Harbaugh left as soon as it happened and met me up there at the hospital, which was awesome.”

Zinter will not be easily replaced after appearing in 45 games with 42 starts in his Michigan career. The captain and All-American perhaps leaves the biggest shoes to fill on the offensive line and U-M has its work cut out for it in finding his predecessor, likely senior Giovanni El-Hadi at right guard.

Zinter was someone who not only set a tone on the field, but an inspirational-enough figure in the program to galvanize a team in one of its most-pressure-packed moments of the season after his injury.

He should be remembered for so much more than what happened after his injury, but few will forget what happened on the last Saturday of November 2023.

Michigan football countdown to kickoff

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