Michigan football may be in short supply of Andrews in its Week 7 matchup with Penn State (3:30 p.m., CBS).
Coach Kyle Whittingham gave a brief injury update coming out of the bye week, and it sounds as though a trio of players named Andrew − Marsh, Sprague and Babalola − will be dealing with various ailments moving forward.
The most serious of them belongs to Sprague, who will be out for multiple weeks with no guarantee if he's able to return at any point this season. Whittingham said he's "perplexed" by what happened with Sprague, which started when something popped up less than 24 hours before U-M's Week 3 win over UTEP.
The starting right tackle sought out multiple doctors for his ailment, which has still not been divulged by U-M, and Whittingham
said there were multiple opinions at first but they have "dovetailed" to the point where there's a bit more consensus.
"Doesn't change the fact that he's not available or won't be available for several weeks," Whittingham said. "But at least we feel now that maybe they've got ... some agreement on that. But we're sure gonna miss him. He's a good player."
Babalola, meanwhile, will return to practice on Monday afternoon for the first time since mid-August. Whittingham said it was a big disappointment for the team when he went down because the unit was "really counting on him," but while rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered in August 2025, he suffered a couple of setbacks.
It still seems unlikely he will play this week, given he hasn't played in a live football game since the fall of 2024 and is only just returning to practice, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility. With the tackles already thin due to the absence of Sprague, Babalola's return (whenever it comes) will give offensive line coach Jim Harding another chess piece to use. It's something that will be needed because from the sounds of it, U-M could possibly be down more than just Sprague.
"Will really help us if he can [play], you know, because we're really thin there," Whittingham said. "Got some other guys dinged up in the Minnesota game that will be questionable − that'll come out on Wednesday on the injury report."
Last but not least, Marsh may be dinged up, too.
Marsh won't be back on punt return against the Nittany Lions, and Whittingham was asked about his fumbles on special teams − he had one against Western Michigan which nearly beat U-M, then another against Minnesota which flipped the tenor of the game in the second half − but the coach cited "some injury reasons" for the change.
"We'll have a different returner back there, and that's due to a couple reasons, not just putting the ball on the ground, but some some injury reasons," Whittingham said. "So we will have a different returner. I won't say who that is yet, but [someone else will be] returning punts this week."
No 'major personnel changes' coming
Despite a week of reflection, Whittingham said there won't be any "major personnel changes" when U-M takes the field against PSU.
"Can't panic and you can't completely change everything because you have one setback," Whittingham. "But we did have a setback last game, so just got to try to keep moving forward."
That includes Bryce Underwood at quarterback and offensive coordinator Jason Beck continuing to call plays, but the Wolverines haven't completely ruled out using Tommy Carr as a backup with specific packages.
“To be determined,” he responded. “He sure looks good in practice, like he has all throughout spring and fall camp. And his small, tiny sample size he had in the game was positive. But right now, like I said, Bryce is our guy, and if we think that giving Tommy a series or two helps our chance to win, then you will see that.”
Michigan is tied at No. 122 nationally (minus-four) in turnover margin, which is last in the Big Ten at same rate as Rutgers. Underwood has committed seven of Michigan's turnovers (four interceptions, three fumbles) through five games.
Zack Marshall issues apology to team
Tight end Zack Marshall took to social media to apologize for "inappropriate comments" he made regarding the Wolverines and specifically offensive coordinator Jason Beck shortly after U-M's 20-14 loss to Minnesota.
The junior, who has often been one of the more vocal voices on the team and was the one who ran out of the locker room and led the break down as the tight ends took the field against Minnesota, left comments about Beck and appeared to question his scheme.
He's since apologized to the team.
"Zach was very apologetic," Whittingham said. "It was an unfortunate deal. Zach Marshall's a great young man. He's a team guy. It was just a lapse in judgment or an error in judgment, and he apologized profusely to myself and the team.
"You lose a couple games, and people get frustrated. ... [But] the point is you got to protect the team, and he wasn't protecting the team in that regard."
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football notebook: Offensive line is 'thin'; Tommy Carr package a possibility
