ANN ARBOR, Mich — The offensive line for the No. 2-ranked Michigan Wolverines has become the first unit to ever win the Joe Moore Award in consecutive seasons, it was announced on Saturday (Dec. 17). The Wolverines won the award for the first time in program history in 2021, and three of that unit's five starters reprised starting roles with the 2022 team.
The Joe Moore Award has been presented since 2015 and recognizes the most outstanding offensive line in college football. Alabama (2015, '20) is the only other school to win the award in multiple seasons, and no program had won in back-to-back years prior to U-M.
U-M saw starting guards Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan pick up first-team All-Big Ten honors earlier this month, while Olusegun Oluwatimi was first team on the coaches' ballots. Oluwatimi also won the Rimington Award as the nation's best center and became Michigan's first-ever Outland Trophy Award winner, presented to the nation's top interior lineman.
Ryan Hayes (second team, coaches) and Karsen Barnhart (honorable mention, both) also were All-Big Ten picks, marking the second year in a row that U-M has seen all five starters receive some type of all-conference recognition. Trente Jones (six starts), Giovanni El-Hadi (three starts) and Jeffrey Persi (one start) are also major contributors to the group.
This group is the engine behind U-M's offensive success. With a win over Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Game, the Wolverines reached 13 wins for the first time in program history (13-0). U-M out-rushed Purdue 225-90 in the win.
The Wolverines line has anchored an offense that ranks No. 7 in scoring (40.1 points per game) on the strength of the nation's No. 6 rushing attack (243.0 yards per game). The line has boosted the team's run game to the tune of 5.96 sack-adjusted yards per carry with nearly three rushing touchdowns per game (38, No. 2 NCAA).
The line helped Blake Corum (1,463 rushing yards, 19 total touchdowns) to a historic season before injury shut him down for the remainder of the year. Corum, the Big Ten's Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year, also was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award and earned unanimous first-team All-American honors. U-M's No. 2 rusher Donovan Edwards is on the verge of a 1,000-yard season himself (872 yards) and leads the nation at 7.5 yards per carry.
In the passing game, the Wolverines have allowed only 13 sacks across 13 games. Sacks against starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy came on 4.60 seconds to throw on average, the eighth-most time among qualified passers.