- Position
- OL
- Number
- #65
- Pieces here
- 15
On the record
Called Shots →Michigan has not publicly identified all five offensive line starters by name and position on or before August 22, 2026.
Andrew Babalola is not one of the five offensive linemen who start Michigan's September 5 opener against Western Michigan.
Between September 6 and the kickoff of Michigan's September 12 game against Oklahoma, Kyle Whittingham states on the record that at least one named Michigan player will not play in that game, or is out, unavailable or doubtful for it. No conference availability report is required for this game.
Evan Link, Nathan Efobi and Brady Norton all appear in Michigan's September 12, 2026 game against Oklahoma, as listed in the official participation report.
Evan Link is one of the five offensive linemen who start Michigan's September 19, 2026 game against UTEP, as listed in Michigan's official Player Participation release for that game.
Written about him
Michigan is 19th, and the team it beat to get there is 24th
Michigan returned to the AP Top 25 at 19th with 382 points, having gone 2-0 with a win over then-11th Oklahoma. It was 16th with 718 points in the preseason ballot, so the same voters now give it 53% of the support it carried in August. Oklahoma dropped 13 places to 24th, which lowers the value of the only ranked win Michigan owns. The schedule ahead moved further than Michigan did: Ohio State lost 24-23 at Texas and fell from 1st to 6th, Oregon lost 39-31 at Oklahoma State and fell from 6th to 21st, and Minnesota lost 38-13 at home to Mississippi State. The five ranked teams left on Michigan's schedule were worth 5,524 AP points last week and are worth 4,280 now, a loss of 1,244 points in a week Michigan played none of them. Ohio State sits 6th at 1-1, ahead of 16 teams ranked below it that have not lost. There is no College Football Playoff ranking until November. Michigan hosts UTEP on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Big Ten Network, with Evan Link and Carter Meadows both expected back and Andrew Babalola out.
Michigan Has Played Eight Of The Nineteen Offensive Linemen On Its Roster
Michigan beat eleventh-ranked Oklahoma 17-10 on September 12 with an offensive line that its own Player Participation release lists one deep at every position. Evan Link, the opening-day left guard, is not on that document anywhere, and nobody said why until Kyle Whittingham's Monday press conference, where he said the staff shuffled the lineup due to injury and nothing else. Link should return this week and may share left guard with Nathan Efobi. Andrew Babalola, a five-star who has still never played a college snap, had a setback and will not be available in the near future. Michigan lists nineteen offensive linemen. Eight have taken an offensive snap.
Western Michigan Won 10 Games And A Conference Title. Michigan Is Favored By 27.5.
Michigan opens the season at home against a Western Michigan team that finished 2025 at 10-4, beat Miami (OH) 23-13 at Ford Field for the MAC title and won the Myrtle Beach Bowl by 35. Across 14 games the Broncos allowed 17.4 points a game. Michigan finished 9-4 and allowed 20.4 across 13. The market still says 27.5. Andrew Babalola, the sixth lineman in the package Jason Beck brought from Utah, is out. Whittingham ruled him out Monday and said he is still on the shelf.
Michigan Would Not Name Its Two Starting Guards Because Three Seniors Are Going To Split The Job
Michigan's offensive coordinator held his final press conference before the opener on Wednesday afternoon and was asked the question that has followed this offensive line since camp opened. Jason Beck answered it with a number rather than a name. Evan Link, Nathan Efobi and Brady Norton will all play at the two guard spots, at what Beck called fairly similar snaps, and Clayton Sayfie of On3 reported that the rotation may hold for more than one game. The three tackles-and-center jobs are settled: Blake Frazier on the left, Jake Guarnera at center, Andrew Sprague on the right, the last of those hardened by Andrew Babalola's injury. Michigan's own roster still lists nineteen men as OL and nothing else, while it breaks the defensive line into ends and tackles, and on Wednesday the defensive coordinator named starters at both.