TCU offensive line popped on tape of Michigan's 'great' Joe Moore Award winning unit, and was impressed
TCU’s offensive line won’t go up against Michigan‘s offensive line, of course, but that doesn’t mean the Horned Frogs’ men up front haven’t taken notice of what the Wolverines have done this season. For the second straight year, Michigan won the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s top offensive line, becoming the first-ever back-to-back winner.
All five of Michigan’s starting offensive linemen earned All-Big Ten honors, with three first-team selections and one second-team nod. The Maize and Blue led the Big Ten and is fifth nationally with 243 rushing yards per game. They’ve allowed only 1 sack and 4.3 tackles for loss per game.
“They’re obviously a great offensive line,” TCU left guard Steve Avila, a consensus All-American, said. “We actually watched film on them to see how they are — and they deserve that award.
“Every day after practice, we go in and watch film on Michigan. We watch practice, and then there was one day [last week] where we were talking like, ‘They won the Joe Moore Award, I want to see what they’re like.’ We went ahead and looked at that for about 15 minutes, to see how they are. And yeah, they’re a pretty good group.”
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Avila said the group’s connectedness stands out on film.
“It’s cliché, but they all play together,” Avila said of Michigan’s offensive line. “I feel like everybody has one mind when they’re playing. They pick up twists very well, they know who’s working with who and where to go in a lot of situations. They play super hard.
“Their center [graduate Olusegun Oluwatimi] won the Outland and the Rimington, so he’s definitely a great player.”
The TCU offensive lineman said he sees similarities between Michigan and the Horned Frogs, though the Wolverines had less bumps in the road along the season.
“We had some struggles in the midseason, early season, which is understandable, but for us just being here now and going against the opponents we’ve faced just shows us that we’re just as good as them, as well,” Avila said.
Here’s more of what Avila said, discussing the Michigan defense as well.
Impressions of Michigan defense
“I’d draw comparisons to Kansas State. They all play together; there’s not really one position that really excels more than the others because they’re all so good.”
On who stands out on the Michigan defensive front
“No. 58 [senior nose tackle Mazi Smith], I’ve heard a lot of things about him and watched him on film. He’s a great player. He will definitely test my ability at times, and it’s definitely for me an iron sharpens iron type of deal. I know we’re opponents, but he’s probably going to be in the NFL soon, and that will show me where I’m at in terms of that. And will probably learn some things that game from him.”
On challenge of U-M rotating in so many bodies on the defensive line
“I don’t think it’s really much of a challenge in terms of preparation for us. We have our scouting reports and we look at what they’re good at, what they’re not good at — and I’m sure they’re doing the same thing with us. We’ve faced an opponent like that, who likes to rotate a lot, so we’ll be all set, because we’ve prepared for it.”
On how prepared the TCU tackles are for Michigan’s edge rushers
“We’re definitely prepared. A lot of the teams we’ve played and a lot of the good players and defensive ends and defensive tackles that we’ve played have prepared us for this moment. They play a little differently, by playing a little wide, and we’ve prepared for that. That’s something we emphasize in practice.”
