Giovanni El-Hadi, Hogan Hansen injury updates: Will Michigan get standout offensive players back for USC?

Michigan Wolverines football got multiple players back from injury coming off its bye week for the game against Wisconsin, a 24-10 win at The Big House, and could be even healthier for the third road game of the year, this coming Saturday’s clash at Southern California.

According to head coach Sherrone Moore at his Monday press conference, both graduate left guard Giovanni El-Hadi and sophomore tight end Hogan Hansen will more than likely see the field against the Trojans, a game in which Michigan is an underdog by 2.5 points.

“I think both of them are probable,” Moore said. “That’s where I would state them right now. So, we’ll see as we go through the week.

“I feel good about their statuses and where they’re going to be, but we’ll just progress as we go through the week.”

El-Hadi went down in Michigan’s 24-13 loss to Oklahoma Sept. 6. Junior Nathan Efobi stepped in and started the last three contests, with the Wolverines beating Central Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin. He warmed up for the Wisconsin game but didn’t play.

Michigan’s offensive line starting five is up in the air heading into the contest against the Trojans. Junior right guard Brady Norton has also been out the last three games, still working his way back from an injury he suffered leading into the CMU game.

Moore weighed in on Michigan’s offensive line performance against Wisconsin.

“Consistency,” Moore said of the ups and downs. “And it’s all very fixable things that we can correct, whether it’s a front-side base block on two plays, whether it’s just the ID of where we’re going. It’s nothing Earth-shattering that you have to fix. But what you do love to see is the big plays and the big holes happening. It means the progression is there. You still rush for 175 yards and you feel like, dang, we have so much more out there.

“Continue to grow, continue to get better. And, I think, if you can get Gio back and Brady Norton back, too, that’s going to help you even more, too, with two guys that are starting quality players.”

Norton is starter-quality since he’s opened games for Michigan this season, but sophomore Jake Guarnera has filled in nicely at right guard and may remain the starter either way.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Moore said of what the starting line will be. “Right now, it would be the guys that were playing, but I think if Gio and Brady can go, they’ll challenge. Obvioiusly, Gio is a starter, and we’ll see what Brady can do to push a guy to get his spot back.”

Hansen, meanwhile, went down with an injury toward the end of spring practices, which held him out of the majority of the offseason. He returned for the week two clash against Oklahoma, played the following week versus CMU and then suffered an apparent injury in practice leading up to the Nebraska matchup, forcing him to miss that one and the Wisconsin game. There haven’t been any public comments on what exactly his injury is.

Hansen is a 6-foot-5, 240-pound tight end out of Bellevue, Wash., that’s hauled in 3 catches for 43 yards with a 26-yard long this season, all of those stats coming in the 63-3 triumph over the Chippewas Sept. 13.

Michigan still has senior captain and starter Marlin Klein at tight end, but position coach and co-offensive coordinator Steve Casula believes the Wolverines can be even more dynamic if both he and Hansen are on the field.

“I feel good about where he’s at,” Casula said last Wednesday. “He’s out there every day, but those two together, we’re pretty good when those two are out there together.”