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Michigan center Olusegun Oluwatimi a consensus All-American, landing on Sporting News' first team

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•12/13/22•

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Michigan Wolverines offensive lineman Olusegun Oluwatimi
Michigan Wolverines offensive lineman Olusegun Oluwatimi (55) points to the defense during the Big 10 Championship game between the Michigan Wolverines and Purdue Boilermakers on December 3, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Michigan Wolverines football now has two consensus All-Americans for the 2022 season, with graduate center Olusegun Oluwatimi joining junior running back Blake Corum. Oluwatimi was selected to the first team by the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Sporting News. He was named second team by the Associated Press.

The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) will release its teams Dec. 14. Corum would become a unanimous All-American if he lands on the AFCA first team, after earning the honor from the other four major selectors.

Oluwatimi won the Rimington Trophy (nation’s top center) and Outland Trophy (best interior lineman on either side of the ball), in addition to being named a first-team All-Big Ten honoree by the coaches (second team, media). He’s Michigan’s first-ever Outland Trophy winner.

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Oluwatimi yielded just 9 pressures through 13 games. Only 18 centers in the country with 318 or more pass-blocking snaps allowed fewer pressures. He allowed no sacks in 360 pass-blocking reps.

The Virginia transfer has been a key piece in Michigan being 13-0 and headed to its second consecutive College Football Playoff, a perfect fit.

“You’re gonna be well-coached, you’re gonna be gritty, you got to be tough, and you’re gonna work,” Oluwatimi said of playing for head coach Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. “There are gonna be some tough days that you have to go through. But that allows us to play to where we play. That allows us to play the way we play on Saturday — being able to last longer than teams, out-tough them, out-physical them for 60 minutes. Sometimes it’s a grind, but you got to go through that grind if you want to be great.”

Corum and Oluwatimi are Michigan’s eighth and ninth consensus All-Americans during Harbaugh’s tenure, which began in 2015. He joins cornerback Jourdan Lewis (2016), tight end Jake Butt (2016), linebacker Jabrill Peppers (2016), defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (2017), linebacker Devin Bush (2018), defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (2021) and kicker Jake Moody (2021).

Corum missed most of the last three games with an injury but still finished with 1,463 rushing yards (eighth in the country) and 18 rushing touchdowns (tied for fourth) on the year. Corum has 22 runs of 15-plus yards, picked up 96 first downs (second nationally among running backs) and forced 73 missed tackles (tied for eighth).

The consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection was a Doak Walker Award finalist and finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting.

He’s out the remainder of the season with a knee injury that required surgery.

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