Michigan player notes: Jaden Mangham revels in MSU win, Greg Crippen weighs in on OL

The Michigan Wolverines are 7-2 heading into their second bye week and riding a three-game winning streak. One of its most recent came in a 31-20 over the Michigan State Spartans, putting head coach Sherrone Moore’s record at 3-0 over U-M’s primary rivals.

Senior safety Jaden Mangham, a former Spartan, has two team wins under his belt since coming to Ann Arbor. He started the Oct. 25 game in East Lansing and said he is happy that at least a Spartan grad is experiencing multiple Paul Bunyan Trophy wins.

 ”It felt great being able to win that,” Mangham said. “They can’t feel that bad. Luckily, I graduated from MSU, so somebody still has it for them. … First time back, it was definitely a crazy feeling that shift of environment from being friendly to now being hostile. But other than that, once the game started, it felt completely normal.”

Mangham has earned a prominent role within Michigan’s safety rotation, especially with Rod Moore’s return from a knee injury. He knows that no matter who is out there, it is for the betterment of the team.

“We know it’s never combative,” Mangham said. “Everybody wants to win and we always know the coach is gonna put out whoever does the best. We never feel any type of way because we know it’s a business, we know it’s a game. That’s why we’re always competing every day. We go out there. We make sure to compete.”

Mangham said Michigan’s focus during the bye week is capitalizing on the time off and getting their bodies right for the stretch run.

“Staying on our recovery,” Mangham said. “Everybody’s banged up, bruised a little bit, so just staying in the training room, getting in recovery so everybody can get their bodies back. Just the time of year when you really feel it. .. Everybody’s feeling sore. Everybody’s banged up. Everybody else in the country is too. We just have to make sure we’re staying on top of that, doing what we can to keep moving forward and keep preparing our game plan.”

Greg Crippen speaks on Michigan’s offensive line

Michigan graduate Greg Crippen has held down the fort all season at center as one of two players to start every game on the offensive line, along with right tackle Andrew Sprague. It is a far cry from when he split time with Dom Giudice at the position.

But the playing time he got in the second half of the season was a big reason for his reliability this year.

“I think the biggest thing is just last year, a new experience of actually starting and playing,” Crippen said. “I think there’s definitely been a certain level of calmness on the field I’ve had this year, obviously improving all the things that I needed to prove last year. The things that were a big focus for me, but overall, the biggest thing is just a certain level of confidence and calmness on the field.”

Crippen is a veteran surrounded by a ton of youth on the line currently. Outside of classmate Giovanni El-Hadi at left guard, Michigan has played the last few weeks with 3 redshirt freshmen in Blake Frazier, Jake Guarnera and Sprague.

“They’re unbelievable players,” Crippen said. “I think they’ve been doing an awesome job for us. You have probably heard the saying before, “next man up” and I feel very confident whoever’s in there is gonna do a great job for us.”

But with the youth on offense comes some bumps in the road. The group has been inconsistent overall and is still finding ways to pull it all together. However, Crippen is not placing Michigan’s inexperience on the lack of production.

“Every player on offense, I have 100% confidence in,” Crippen said. “Everyone’s been doing a really good job. One thing may not go well one game, but then the next game goes really well. As a whole offense, we need to make sure we put it all together every game so we can be the best offense in the country.”

Crippen and the Wolverines are back on the field on Nov. 15 at Wrigley Field in Chicago against the Northwestern Wildcats. The game kicks off at noon Eastern on FOX.