Michigan football countdown to kickoff: 22 days until 2022 season

There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 3 opener against Colorado State. 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.

With 22 days until Michigan kicks off the 2022 season Sept. 3 against Colorado State, we take a look at three U-M players who have worn No. 22.

Ty Law

Law is one of Michigan’s most decorated former players for his time in Ann Arbor and in the NFL. He came to the Wolverines in 1992 and made an impact right away. He notched 49 tackles and four pass breakups as a freshman, before picking off six passes and adding 57 stops and seven pass breakups as a sophomore.

His junior year at Michigan earned him quite a few accolades. He picked off two passes, broke up eight and added 58 tackles. He was named a first-team All-American and unanimous pick for first-team All-Big Ten.

Law left Michigan after his junior season and declared for the 1995 NFL Draft. There, he was picked by the New England Patriots, where he played the majority of his professional career (1995-2004). He won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXIX) while teaming up with former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady, was twice named first-team All-Pro and made five appearances in the Pro Bowl. He led the league in interceptions two times (1998, 2005), with the separation between those two seasons showing his longevity.

Law was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2019 class. He’s one of 11 former Michigan players enshrined into Canton.

“[Michigan] was where my belief in myself was really put to the test,” Law said during his enshrinement speech. “Not everyone thought I would make it. They thought I would be a small fish in a big pond because that’s the University of Michigan. I would hear, “Well he is good, but he ain’t that good,” and to be honest with you, that pissed me off.

“Once I arrived at Michigan I had to fight — I had to fight hard to get on the field and start as a freshman. I had to fight even harder as a sophomore, and I made All-Big Ten. I fought harder as a junior and happened to make All-American, and eventually the critics and the naysayers called me one of the best cornerbacks in the country.”

Karan Higdon

Higdon’s story will always be an interesting one. The Floridian flipped from Iowa on national signing day in 2015, joining Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who had just arrived a few months earlier, in his first recruiting class. The Wolverines were also pursuing Mike Weber, who wound up at Ohio State after previously being a U-M pledge under former head man Brady Hoke. They would’ve taken both backs, but the Buckeyes sealed the deal.

Higdon went on to have success at Michigan, though, and he and Weber actually put up similar statistics for their careers. Higdon had 444 yards and six rushing touchdowns through two seasons (he appeared in just three games in 2015), before breaking out as an upperclassman.

In 2017, he finished just six rushing yards shy of 1,000, which became the source of his motivation for the following campaign. He added 11 touchdowns and averaged 6.1 yards per carry as a junior. In 2018, his final season at Michigan, he ran for 1,178 yards and 10 scores, averaging 5.3 yards per pop.

Believe it or not, Higdon was Michigan’s first 1,000-yard rusher at the running back position since Fitzgerald Toussaint in 2011.

Gemon Green

Michigan’s graduate cornerback seems to be the forgotten man in the Wolverines’ defensive backfield, but he’ll have a big role once again this fall. He was passed up late last season by senior DJ Turner, but now the two are the team’s most experienced corners by far and are leading on the back end.

Green has made 12 career starts, and led Michigan with nine pass breakups in 2020. Last season, he broke up two passes and made one interception, playing in 12 contests (an injury held him out of two outings).

Michigan football countdown to kickoff

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