Don't be surprised to see Michigan freshman OL Andrew Sprague down the stretch: 'He's got some juice'

Michigan Wolverines football is thin at offensive tackle. Junior Andrew Gentry had taken over the starting spot ahead of sophomore Evan Link at right tackle last month, but he suffered a season-ending injury against Michigan State Oct. 26. Link opened the first six outings before being replaced.

Against Oregon Nov. 2, graduate Jeffrey Persi, the next man up at either tackle spot, went down with an injury while on the punt team. He was carted off the field, but head coach Sherrone Moore said on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show that he didn’t “think it was as bad as we thought it was [Saturday].”

“We’ll see,” Moore added Monday. “He’ll try to get out there sometime this week to see where he can go.”

That’s not exactly an indication that Persi being available for Saturday’s gigantic clash at No. 8 Indiana is a certainty.

There’s no guarantee that any one player would be next up behind fifth-year senior left tackle Myles Hinton and Link at the tackle spots, since Michigan could do some shuffling. But freshman Andrew Sprague — a four-star, top-110 prospect in the 2024 class — is in line to potentially receive some playing time.

“Obviously, we can move different people around,” Moore noted. “[Senior] Dom[inick] Giudice — he’s back, so he could go in there at different guard spots. We could move guys to tackle, possibly move [graduate left guard] Josh Priebe to tackle if we needed to.

“But the next possible guy is probably Andrew Sprague, a young kid that has a lot of talent, a lot of ability. I think he’s close to making that move, so we’ll see.”

While others will have gone down with injury if Sprague does receive playing time, Moore said that the 6-foot-8, 305-pound Kansas City native has “earned” his spot on the depth chart.

“He just keeps getting better and better,” Moore explained.
“I think he’ll be one of those guys that’ll impact us for a long time. I look forward to watching him. So we’ll see how he does this week and progression for the game.

“It’s awesome to see, so long as he plays good. But I think he’s a guy that will go in there and just play fearless and play fast, so excited to watch him play.”

Hinton, a teammate and leader on Michigan’s offensive line, broke down what has allowed Sprague to surge.

“He’s a great player,” Hinton said. “A natural pass blocker. He kinda had an unorthodox technique when he first got here, but he was clamping dudes, so I was like, ‘Hey, if it’s working, it’s working.’

“So he’s definitely a great player, a great dude. He’s got some juice. So far, he’s a great pass protector, very good run blocker. He’s a freshman, so he’s not strong like a fifth-year senior would be. He’s got room to grow, like we all do, but he is in a good spot — a really good spot.”

Whoever is in will look to bring a high level of intensity for Michigan. The Wolverines didn’t have enough of that in the first half against Oregon, starting off with back-to-back punts on offense, but picked it up in the second half. Michigan drove down for a touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter, helping get the team back in the game, which was eventually a 38-17 setback to the nation’s No. 1 team.

“I feel like everybody in themselves kind of felt convicted to just not put — for lack of a better word — BS on tape,” Hinton said. “At halftime, we were like, OK, we have two opportunities. We can fold over and do nothing, or go out there and fight and win the game. And we came out with some fight. It was definitely a positive for the team.

“I think we can for sure build on that. We have three games left, so it’s not a ton of time, but it’s something that’s definitely a positive.”

There’s talk within the program about bringing that level of fire from the get-go.

“That’s the first thing Coach Moore said was, ‘We fought in the second half, but that’s gotta be the entire game,'” Hinton said.