ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan football has managed to stay mostly healthy, minus some players who haven't yet seen the field much, with even a few players seeing their first game action against UTEP. While edge rusher Carter Meadows and tight end Hogan Hansen both managed to get on the field, there were two players who couldn't go on Saturday, and one who left the game early.
It was something of a surprise to see a reshuffled offensive line, with right tackle Andrew Sprague out. He was replaced by left tackle Blake Frazier, while left guard Evan Link moved back out to the tackle spot, and Brady Norton and Nathan Efobi took over the guard roles.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham says that it wasn't expected, and that the hope is that Sprague can return
sooner than later.
"Well, we sure hope to have him back soon," Whittingham said. "It was a weird deal, and was within the last literally 24 hours. And I won't elaborate on it, but it completely caught us off guard, because he took every rep during the practice week up until yesterday.
"I thought the new configuration played out pretty darn good, Evan Link back to his usual spot at left tackle. He played several hundred snaps last season at left tackle. We bumped Blake Frazier over to the right side, and I thought those guys did a nice job for having literally no reps as a unit in practice all week long; I thought they handled it pretty good."
The other surprise was the absence of cornerback Zeke Berry. Berry has been stellar through two weeks, and Whittingham says that if the Wolverines absolutely needed him, he could have played against the Miners.
But, given that it gave more opportunities to sophomore Shamari Earls, he was happy to sit him for a week while he recovers.
"He was a game-time decision, literally," Whittingham said. "He had had something that was nagging at him during the week. Had we had to have him today, probably could have played him. The safer course of action was to try to sit him and get him completely healthy for next week, and let Shamari Earls take over and get some reps there. So I believe that was the right decision. He should be good to go for next week, because of that we didn't have any setbacks, obviously, because he didn't play. And so he's a really important part of our secondary, and we're hoping we get him back next week."
During the game, running back Jordan Marshall departed with an injury. After having 12 carries for 59 yards and a touchdown, it wasn't ideal, but Whittingham believes he should be able to play against Iowa in Week 4.
"Jordan exited the game with a little nagging thing that was actually residual from last week, last game," Whittingham said. "And so we hope to have him ready to roll next week, but both good backs (he and Savion Hiter), and great to see him be productive."
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham gives injury updates on 3 key Michigan starters
