- Position
- OL
- Number
- #77
- Pieces here
- 27
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.
Michigan starts the same five offensive linemen, the same five men, in each of its first three games of the 2026 season: Western Michigan on September 5, Oklahoma on September 12 and UTEP on September 19.
The five offensive linemen listed as starters in Michigan's official Player Participation release for its September 26, 2026 game against Iowa are a different set of five men from all three sets Michigan has started so far in 2026 (Frazier-Link-Guarnera-Norton-Sprague, Frazier-Efobi-Guarnera-Norton-Sprague, and Link-Efobi-Guarnera-Norton-Frazier).
Written about him
Michigan had third down at Indiana's 1 and 3, and lost yards both times
Indiana beat Michigan 13-6 in overtime at Michigan Stadium in front of 111,276, its first win there since 1967. Michigan is 4-3 and 1-3 in the Big Ten. Michigan had the ball inside the Indiana 23 on five possessions and scored two field goals. Three of the five ended with Tommy Carr sacked on third down, including a 13-yard loss on third-and-1 from the Indiana 1 that Kyle Whittingham called 'not a good football call,' and a 5-yard loss on third-and-3 from the 3 with 32 seconds left. Trey Butkowski, 4 of 4 on field goals before Saturday, missed from 53 and 32. Indiana's six points in regulation both came on short fields after Carr's two turnovers; its nine other regulation possessions, all starting in its own territory, produced nothing. Josh Hoover, playing hurt per Curt Cignetti, was 8 of 18 for 81 yards and threw his first interception of the season, to Zeke Berry. Michigan ran 42 times for 57 yards, its running backs 26 times for 52. In his first start Carr was 20 of 32 for 167 yards; no completion travelled more than 18 yards past the line. Blake Frazier and Dom Nichols were ruled out on game day; Marky Walbridge started at right tackle and Benny Patterson III made his first career start. Michigan plays at Rutgers on Saturday.
Three of Michigan's five starting linemen are on the Penn State injury report
Michigan's initial Big Ten availability report for Saturday's game against Penn State, filed Wednesday, October 14, lists 14 players, six of them offensive linemen. Jake Guarnera, who started at center at Minnesota, and Brady Norton, another Minnesota starter, are Questionable; Nathan Efobi, a third starter, is Probable. Evan Link and Blake Frazier are not listed. Andrew Sprague is Out, the first time Michigan has opened a week with him at Out rather than Questionable, and Ace Hamilton is Out. Andrew Babalola, Out on all eight of his earlier designations this season, is Questionable. Manuel Beigel, Out on game day at Minnesota, is off the report, which makes him Available under the conference rule. In Michigan's two earlier conference weeks, ten Wednesday Questionable designations ended with three Outs on game day, all three of them offensive linemen; the six non-linemen all finished Available and the fourth lineman, Houston Ka'aha'aina-Torres, was a Game Time Decision who played. One take filed.
Last week Michigan's injury report did not change until two hours before kickoff
Michigan's first Big Ten availability report for Saturday's game at Minnesota, filed Wednesday, September 30, lists six players as Questionable: receiver Andrew Marsh, edge rushers Dom Nichols and John Henry Daley, and offensive linemen Andrew Sprague, Houston Ka'aha'aina-Torres and Manuel Beigel. Blake Frazier is Probable. Six players are Out, including defensive end Julius Holly. Daley and Nichols have 5.5 of Michigan's 12 sacks, per the official box scores; Nate Marshall and freshman Tariq Boney have 2 each. Under the Big Ten's 2026 rules, teams file at 8 p.m. Eastern on the three weekdays before a Saturday game and again two hours before kickoff, when the only categories are game-time decision, out and out for the first half, and an unlisted player is available. Before Iowa, Michigan filed an unchanged list on all three weekdays. In the Big Ten archive through September 26, 64 players were Questionable on a Wednesday report; 22 were still Questionable on Friday, and 15 of those were game-time decisions on game day. The other seven, four from Michigan and three from Michigan State, were settled on the game-day report: Nichols, Zeke Berry and Logan Forbes were left off as available, and Sprague was out. Michigan plays at Minnesota on Saturday at noon Eastern on Fox, so the game-day report is due about 7 a.m. Pacific.
Michigan got inside Iowa's 20 four times and scored 10 points
Iowa beat Michigan 20-19 at Michigan Stadium on Hank Brown's 16-yard touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee as time expired, the end of an 11-play, 91-yard drive that began with 1:46 left. Michigan outgained Iowa 429-285 against a defense that had allowed 176.7 yards a game, and Bryce Underwood threw for a career-high 276 yards. Michigan reached Iowa's 20 four times and scored 10 points: a touchdown, a 22-yard field goal after first-and-goal at the 5, a stopped fourth-and-1 sneak and an interception at the Iowa 2. Iowa reached Michigan's 20 twice and scored touchdowns both times, and Braeden Jackson returned a kickoff 99 yards 14 seconds after Michigan's first touchdown. After Michigan took a 19-14 lead with 11:59 left, its two possessions produced one first down. Zeke Berry's unnecessary roughness penalty turned what would have been an Iowa fourth-and-12 into a first down with 26 seconds left. Michigan committed eight penalties for 75 yards, forced no turnovers, and has forced three in four games. Andrew Sprague missed a second straight game and Blake Frazier left in the third quarter and returned.
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.