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Michigan football: Why Olu Oluwatimi was named top transfer lineman

Anthony Broomeby:Anthony Broome•07/19/22•

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Michigan football Olu Oluwatimi
New Michigan Wolverines football center Olusegun Oluwatimi began his career at Air Force, starred at Virginia and is now at U-M. (Photo by EJ Holland / TheWolverine.com)

Michigan football’s offensive line won the Joe Moore Award as the best in the nation in 2021. Transfer center Olu Oluwatimi could be part of a group that surpasses it this season.

On3’s Mike Huguenin put together a list of the top offensive line transfers in college football. Michigan’s newest member, formerly of the Air Force and Virginia topped the list among all of them.

“Not only did Michigan get a plug-and-play replacement for graduated C Andrew Vastardis, it got a guy who will be one of the best centers in the nation. Olusegun Oluwatimi should slide in nicely in Vastardis’ old spot and give the Wolverines one of the best lines in the nation. He began his career at Air Force, then transferred and became a three-year starter for the Cavaliers. Oluwatimi (6-3, 310) was a second-team All-ACC selection in 2021, when he was one of three finalists for the Rimington Trophy, which goes to the nation’s best center. He and linemates Zak Zinter, a guard, and Ryan Hayes, a tackle, will vie for All-Big Ten and even All-America honors.”

Oluwatimi was a Rimington finalist last season so his name being in the mix on the Joe Moore Award-winning Michigan OL is not a surprise. He discussed during the spring why he decided to come to Ann Arbor.

“Michigan as a university, it stands alone right there,” he said when asked why he picked U-M earlier this year. “It stood above the rest of the options I had when I entered the transfer portal. And obviously, the brand of football — the O-line coming off the Joe Moore Award, the team coming off making the College Football Playoffs.

“I just loved the momentum of the program. I feel like I can add to it, so it was a no-brainer.”

High expectations for the Michigan OL

Junior offensive lineman Zak Zinter also projects to be a big piece of the offensive line. The transition to Oluwatimi at Michigan has been seamless after playing next to Andrew Vastardis last year.

“I mean, we’ve been rolling,” Zinter said this spring. “We’ve got high expectations for ourselves and this offense this year, and I think we’re gonna have a really good offense.”

Momentum is good, but Zinter and the Wolverines do not want to coast off of it. The 2022 campaign brings about an opportunity for a fresh start and foundation. He wants to make sure a tone is set that last year is in the past.

“A lot of what we’ve been saying is we don’t want to live off last year because you had these high expectations of freshmen,” he said. “Some of the early enrollees, they don’t know what we went through during the COVID year.

“So I think not living off the high of last year and still knowing we’ve got to put the work in this year to be the team we know and we want to be.”

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