Michigan football countdown to kickoff: 51 days until 2022 season
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 3 opener against Colorado State. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
Michigan football finds itself 51 days away from the 2022 football season kicking off. This series has brought multiple looks into the past. Today, we look toward the future.
No. 51 on the current Michigan roster belongs to sophomore interior offensive lineman Greg Crippen, who is still probably a year away from cracking the starting lineup. However, he is playing a role in shaping the future himself.
Crippen entered the spring as the No. 2 center behind Virginia transfer Olu Oluwatimi, who projects to hold things down for Michigan in 2022. Still, Crippen found a way to make a push and have iron sharpen iron during spring football.
Michigan, not being ones to hand over anything, made sure that Oluwatimi was not just assured a position. He was, and still is, going to have to work for it. While it is likely that the Rimington Award finalist ultimately starts the opener, Crippen hopes that working alongside him helps unlock his skillset.
“[Olu is] a great player. I think he’s going to make me a better player, too,” Crippen said this summer. “I’m going to battle every day.
“But he should be doing great things. He’s going to be playing in the NFL [soon].”
Crippen projects to be the team’s backup center this year. He played six games as a freshman at Michigan in 2021 with his most notable experience coming in the Big Ten Championship game. Should he and the program continue on their recent path, the next time he plays in Indianapolis might be as a starter.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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